Back to the roots or Taking a whole new path
by Tukuyomi
Summary: Sequel to A new life: Now that the dragons are gone, what is there left to do for Kidd and Harle? A little adventure maybe?
1. What a new life looks like

This is a sequel to „A new life". It takes place after chapter 17, so if you haven't read the story up to that point (which is almost all of it), you may not understand everything. Also, this is shoujo-ai, of course. If you don't like it, you don't want to read this. However, if you read it, please review and tell me what you think about it. Just don't flame me because of my simple English please. English isn't my native language and there's not much I can do to improve it. Thanks.

Disclaimer: I don't own Chrono Cross or any of it's characters. It all belongs to Square-Enix.

"Back to the roots" or "Taking a whole new path"

Chapter 1 – What a new life looks like…

It was a cold and starry night. The moon shone brightly in a futile attempt to banish the impenetrable darkness of the night. Nothing could be heard except of the wind rustling in the trees…and a few soft footsteps if one listened very closely.

Two shadows made their way up a cold and also slippery wall until they reached a balcony, which seemingly served as a perfect entrance to the mansion. The mansion was well- guarded and climbing in from the forest side was one of the easier ways to get inside without being noticed right away.

Strong arms pulled their owner over the edge of the balcony, careful not to make any more noise than absolutely necessary.

"Didn't I tell ya this was the best way?", Kidd whispered and smiled, reaching out her right hand to help her companion up as well.

"We will see about zat.", Harle answered in a serious tone, but had to smile nonetheless as she took Kidd's helping hand.

Examining this side of the manor, they saw that the corridor, which seemingly led from the balcony all around the mansion, was just surrounded by a low wall. "Good", Kidd thought. This would give them enough opportunities to escape if things were to get ugly.

Together, they entered the corridor in front of them, which led in two directions. Guessing either way would lead them to their goal eventually, they chose continuing left.

With careful steps, the two of them proceeded along the corridor, making sure to always stay close to the walls, in the shadows. It wasn't Kidd's and Harle's first time in Viper Manor, but still, they had to be cautious if they didn't want to get caught. And also, it didn't look exactly like the old Viper Manor anymore. After its rebuild, which took quite some time, it now looked a little more modern, but was still recognizable as Viper Manor.

"Zat reminds moi of our première meeting.", Harle whispered, only two steps behind Kidd.

"Hm". Kidd answered, looking around the corner to check for guards, finding none. "Which wasn't exactly nice."

Harle had to giggle and followed Kidd around the corner. Indeed, the first time they had met, Harle hadn't been very nice to her, having only eyes for Serge. But things were different now. Much different. Harle wondered why she had been so rude to Kidd before…was it because she had seen her as a rival? Or was it because Harle had been all alone…and Kidd hadn't?

Harle's thoughts were interrupted when Kidd before her came to a sudden stop.

Harle, who wasn't aware for a moment, bumped into Kidd and lost her balance for a moment but caught it just before she sent them both lying on the floor.

She was just about to complain when Kidd's voice shushed her.

"There's someone coming.", Kidd said while looking to the side, making sure Harle could hear it. When Harle understood the meaning of that sentence, Kidd had already turned around and walked back a few steps, looking anxiously for some place to hide.

Eventually, Harle heard the metallic clanks as well, realizing that a soldier must be approaching them. Quickly both of them hid behind the corner they just came from, hoping the soldier would turn the other way.

Pressing their bodies close to the wall, they heard the steps coming closer and closer, until they came to a stop only a few metres away from them. Both Kidd and Harle held their breaths, waiting for the soldier to choose a direction.

"Just don't go left!", Kidd thought to herself. She didn't want to attract attention this early, it would only cause them unnecessary trouble. Not that Kidd feared a fight with these soldiers, she just wanted this to be over soon. She didn't like this mission at all. She and Harle were here to steal a certain relic from Viper, the Blazing Heart. To Kidd, it didn't sound like much and she doubted something like this even existed, but an order was an order. However, the last time she was here to steal something, it didn't go exactly well. She certainly wasn't in the mood to put her life on the line again.

After what seemed like an eternity, the soldier decided to continue left, walking away from them. Both Kidd and Harle exhaled at the same time, feeling somewhat relieved.

However, just as Kidd weighed safety against risk and decided to proceed further, Harle had already strode past her without Kidd motioning to do so.

"Oi!", Kidd said automatically, pulling Harle back against the wall with a thud.

"What iz it!", Harle hissed, trying to be quiet in spite of her partner's slightly annoying behaviour. Kidd backed away a little, surprised by Harle's sudden anger. "It's just…", Kidd started, until she was harshly interrupted.

"Who's there!", the soldier, whom the two women had at all but forgotten, suddenly asked, his voice deep and unfriendly.

"Just great…", Kidd whispered, but before she could look in his direction, Harle had already disposed of him by kicking him hard into the side, sending him flying over the edge of the not-so-tall wall on the left side of the corridor.

To Harle's surprise, the man didn't even scream. He just fell over the edge and after a lot of rustling, the two of them could hear a loud thud, indicating he had reached the ground.

"Geez, was that necessary? If ya hadn't moved on so fast, he wouldn't have noticed us!" Kidd scolded.

"Mon dieu, what exzactly iz ze problem? He's gone, non?", Harle asked, now unnerved.

"Didn't I say we wanted ta stay unnoticed? It'll only cause us trouble if those guys are after us.", Kidd shot back.

"So what? It waz your fault in ze firzt place. If you hadn't stopped moi, it would have been juzt fine. Anywayz, moi izn't scared at all, let zem come if zey wish.", Harle said angrily, looking to the side.

"Then just go and let 'em catch ya, while I'll leave with the Blazin' Heart and without this bloody pack on my toes!" Now Kidd was furious as well. She didn't like how Harle thought about this as a game or something like that.

"Fine.", Harle said and turned her back to Kidd, walking off in the same direction the soldier was going to take.

"FINE!", Kidd said loud enough for Harle to hear. But instead of following her, she took the same way she had wanted to all along.

After a few minutes of quietly following this corridor, Kidd grew uneasy. It certainly hadn't been a good idea to split up like that. Actually, it had been a terrible idea. But no, Kidd wouldn't run after Harle. It wasn't like her to do something like that and after all, it wasn't even her fault. It was Harle's for being so impatient and offensive.

Still, while sneaking around several corners and eavesdropping on the soldiers in the armory, she started to worry about Harle. She just hoped she hadn't gotten herself into trouble like Kidd told her she would.

"Hey, do you think Viper's acting strange lately?", one of the soldiers inside the armory said, drawing Kidd's attention back to them. Feeling this could get interesting, Kidd pressed her head closer to the wooden door.

"Now that you mention it, he seems…excited about something.", another soldier replied.

"Yeah, that's what I thought as well. I wonder if it has to do with her?" Now Kidd was really interested. She didn't particularly like Viper, and because of that, any information about him could come in handy later on.

"I think so. She's been around him a lot recently. Wonder what she's up to…"

Kidd was eager to listen to them some more, but another approaching soldier made that impossible. So she continued deeper into the mansion, hoping she would find the relic soon.

In the meantime, Harle was already inside the treasure vault, hoping to find the Blazing Heart here. Getting inside had been easy, in spite of the four soldiers guarding the door, who now lay unconscious among the treasure boxes and jewellery.

Harle walked quietly across the room, searching for something striking, something different. Of course, it wasn't easy in the dark, but Harle wasn't as daring as to light the candles or torches.

"It would be easier wit' deux people…", Harle quietly mumbled to herself while opening one of the countless treasure boxes, finding nothing but ordinary gems. With a sigh she shut it again, thinking back to her argument with Kidd just about ten minutes ago.

Harle didn't like how Kidd had decided everything since the start of their mission. Of course, Kidd also was the more experienced one of the two, but that didn't make it easier if she wasn't even allowed to take a few steps without Kidd telling her to do so.

Harle sighed again. Both of them weren't used to work as a team like this. They were perfect together in battle, but this was another story entirely.

After kicking rather forcefully against one of the boxes, Harle turned around and left the room. The Blazing Heart had to be elsewhere. Somewhere one could actually find it without searching through dozens of boxes.

Continuing onward, she passed two doors, which she didn't even bother to open, guessing they were just ordinary rooms anyway. She didn't have time to look through every single room, so she decided just to check the suspicious looking ones.

Turning around the next corner, she saw the way leading to a set of double doors on the right, and stairs on the left. She chose going right and opened the heavy doors, which weren't guarded at all, as carefully as possible. Inside, the sight of thousands of books greeted her. The library. Harle didn't expect to find anything here, but decided to at least take a quick look at every row of books. Something like the wanted relic would stand out, so I'd be easy to find it here. Walking slowly along the rows of books, Harle suddenly heard sounds from above. It sounded like footsteps, quick ones. Maybe it was more than one person up there.

Guessing it was useless to stay in the library any longer, Harle quickly left the room and headed upstairs, to find a beautifully decorated door at the end of the corridor. Approaching the door, she heard voices, at least three or four of them. They were hard to tell apart. To her terror, Harle recognized one of them. It was Kidd's. Her voice was muffled, but Harle could still tell it was hers. She expected the others to belong to Viper and one or two of his soldiers.

That was bad. Harle had to do something, and fast. She didn't want to wait until even more soldiers came here, or worse, they did something to Kidd.

Leaning close to the door, she could make out a few pieces of their conversation. Apparently, Kidd had only been caught a few minutes ago, while looking for the relic in this room. The soldiers were still questioning her about all kinds of things, while Viper didn't say much at all. Judging from the directions their voices came from, Harle suspected Kidd being at the left wall, while the soldiers were about one metre in front of the door. Viper's position was unknown to Harle, but she guessed he was near the right wall, where she suspected his desk to be.

Seeing how there was only one way to help Kidd without taking too many risks, Harle went to the other side of the corridor, so that the door was about three metres in front of her. It wasn't much, but it had to be enough. She took three cards into her left hand and prepared herself. Then she pushed herself from the wall and ran directly towards the door. Just before she ran into the door, her right hand pushed the handle down and opened it. With all her might she pushed the door open, and just as expected, two soldiers flew to the far back of the room. But before she had the time to deal with them, she threw the cards she had kept in her left hand in direction of Viper, who was too surprised to be able to dodge them.

Now with Viper at least momentarily down, Harle had a little time to take care of the soldiers, who were already charging her. Having not enough time to draw her cards, she knocked out the first with a fierce punch into the face, and the second with a kick into the stomach.

After seeing them fall to the ground unconsciously, Harle finally turned left to regard Kidd, whose arms and legs were fettered. Her mouth was covered by a white cloth tied around her head. With a sigh, Harle walked towards Kidd and took out a card to cut the ropes and the cloth.

"Always getting yourself into trouble, non?", she said in the process.

"Seems like it. Thanks for helping me out.", Kidd answered and smiled sheepishly. However, Harle had already turned around and searched the desk for the relic. Kidd frowned but decided to join her, though she kept one eye on Viper the whole time.

"Three aces, huh? Guess that wins every battle.", Kidd said jokingly upon inspecting the cards Harle struck Viper with. Now Harle had to chuckle as well, despite her efforts not to. She hated it when Kidd made her laugh when she was still angry at her. It always made her anger seem so pointless.

"Ya know, I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I guess I'm not used to do things like that as a team. Will ya forgive me?", she said while hugging Harle from behind. "…juzt zis once.", Harle answered and turned around to give Kidd a quick kiss.

Then, they continued to search for the relic, but to no avail. Within the drawers, the only found scrolls and all kinds of blueprints and maps. A few of them were particularly interesting. One showed the kingdom of Guardia, which was a little odd, because Guardia was pretty far away and Kidd couldn't think of any reason why Viper would have any business there. The other maps showed Porre and Marbule. On each map there were two certain spots marked with a cross. It just looked too much like a treasure map to be ignored, so they decided to take it with them. They couldn't return with empty hands, after all. And maybe, the Blazing Heart was to be found in one of those places marked on the map.

"It's a good enough excuse. Let's go back now. There isn't anythin' here anymore.", Kidd said, already on her way to the door. Harle just nodded silently and followed. Somehow, she felt there was more to these maps than just some treasure, but she didn't have the time to brood over things like that now. First, they had to get out of here safely.

Walking down the stairs, Harle wondered about the consequences this would have. After all, Viper had seen them both and it wasn't completely unlikely for him to want his things back. Maybe he'd even go that far as to send the 5 Devas after Kidd and her. She wasn't exactly scared of Glenn and Marcy, those two were still too inexperienced, but Karsh and the others were a whole different story, especially if they were to attack them together.

"Come on, let's hurry Harle! I wanna get outta here, it's almost daybreak too!", Kidd urged and they sprinted along the corridors. They didn't see any soldiers anymore, it was almost suspicious.

They left the same way they came, over the balcony. Harle climbed down first, trying hard not to slip and fall down. Kidd followed her quickly and smoothly, having no difficulties with this at all.

When they reached the forest ground, they dashed off into the forest. The sun had already started to rise by then, and Kidd hoped they'd make it in time.

When they finally reached the mountains, from which they could already see the shore, Harle guessed it to be already nine o'clock in the morning, which didn't leave them much time to reach the shore. So they simply took the shortest, though more dangerous, passes to get over the mountains.

When they reached the beach shortly before noon, there was nobody to be seen yet.

"We even made it on time.", Kidd said and let herself fall backwards into the white sand.

"It'z ze leazt we could do, non? After failing in our mission.", Harle answered, and Kidd could clearly hear the worry in her voice.

"Ya worry too much. None of 'em could've made it better. And also, it's their fault we didn't find the bloody relic. Givin' us wrong information and all.", Kidd said, looking up to Harle, who still stood there worriedly.

"Aww, c'mon!", Kidd suddenly shouted and tugged at Harle's arm, dragging her down beside her, "They won't chop yer head off or somethin'. Even if they tried, they'd never get past me." With a smirk, Kidd brushed away a few stray locks on Harle face and kissed her forehead gently. Harle just smiled in return, feeling her worries fading away.

Together, they watched the ocean in front of them, enjoying this rare moment of silence. After they had beaten the last one of the dragons, Kidd had thought they'd lead a more peaceful life, but Harle had been up to more adventures and to Kidd, it was just as well.

"Look, it'z zere!", Harle suddenly said and got up, watching the ship on the horizon. It was still far away, but undeniably heading towards the both of them.

"About damn time.", Kidd complained, but smiled nonetheless.


	2. The sea calls

A/N: Sorry this took so long. I don't even have a proper excuse other than being lazy and a lack of ideas. But I promise I'll be faster with the next chapter.

Chapter 2 – The sea calls

The ship came to a halt about three hundred metres away from the shore. It was far too huge to come any nearer, or otherwise, it would get stuck. And this was one ugly situation none of them wanted to be part of. So Kidd and Harle simply had to wait until one of them would get them with a rowing-boat. It was the only alternative to swimming.

Harle sat down again, enjoying a moment of admiring the sheer beauty of the ship. It was fully made of wood, unlike the Porre ship Harle and Kidd were once travelling with. The frame resembled the one of the S.S. Zellbess in some ways, but all in all, it didn't look the slightest bit modern, which was something Harle really liked about this ship. Of course, it wasn't the first time she'd seen this ship, but every time anew it struck her with amazement. Her eyes wandered from the frame to the big sails, which were crimson red, with two eerily blurred black letters on it: RD.

"Whaddaya starin' at? Somethin' wrong with the ship?", Kidd asked, looking at Harle.

"Non, it'z juzt…it lookz trés jolie.", Harle whispered. She didn't know why she found that ship so entrancing. Maybe it was because she had always wanted to travel with such a ship, not these modern ships, which looked so ugly in her eyes.

"Huh? Better not say that ta the captain, ya hear? He's so proud, cuz everyone keeps sayin' his ship looks dangerous.", Kidd explained and smirked. Sometimes, Harle found the oddest things especially nice or beautiful. Just like that Bellflower they found a few days ago, while crossing Fossil Valley. Kidd couldn't believe Harle had never seen one in her entire life. They had stopped almost half an hour, just so that Harle could regard the flower, only to decide that she didn't even want a few to take with them. Sometimes, Kidd really couldn't make out what Harle was thinking, but to her, it made just Harle even more interesting.

Kidd concentrated her eyes to see the man in the rowing-boat, which was slowly approaching them. "Aw, nuts. It's Jack. Wonder why the captain always chooses him ta row, he's the slowest of all. Bet it'll take him half an hour ta get here."

"Don't complain all ze time, he alwayz doez his best, non?", Harle said calmly. She didn't like it when Kidd or the others talked about him like that. Somehow, she was really fond of him. He always tried to help wherever he could and although he was still a little clumsy and weak, he never gave up. He had a strong spirit and Harle was sure that in time, he would make a great fighter and sailor.

"Yeah, guess you're right. Ah, that reminds me, can ya help him with his throwin'-knives practices again today? He's still pretty bad with 'em. He should've chosen the sword or dagger, like the others. Geez, he always does things the hard way." Kidd sighed. It wasn't that she didn't like him, but he had such a talent at picking things he wasn't good with, instead of concentrating on his real talents…which weren't that many, Kidd had to admit.

Harle nodded. She knew Jack had picked the throwing-knives as his weapon out of admiration for her. Harle still remembered the impressed look on his face when Harle first demonstrated her skills to the captain when Kidd had introduced her to the crew. That was about three weeks ago, just two weeks after Jack had joined the crew. Maybe it had been because they were both newcomers, but they grew close really quickly. Harle could talk to Jack about almost everything that worried her. Of course she could talk to Kidd as well, but Kidd couldn't understand the worries of a beginner anymore, seeing how she was in direct command of the whole ship right after the captain now. At least Harle thought she couldn't. So she often came to Jack with her worries, about being unable to complete the missions for example. And Jack too was always very worried to do something wrong. He had dreamt his whole life to be part of this crew, and the thought of being thrown out constantly worried him. So like that, both of them were glad not to be the only one in this situation. Even if they were still treated like newcomers sometimes, they were gradually showing them their capabilities. It was especially important for Harle to show them that she could stand on her own two feet. She didn't like the image of weak women the crew seemed to have, so she wanted to get rid of that as soon as possible.

"Oi, he's almost here. Seems like he trained a little while we were away, huh?", Kidd asked smirking. Harle giggled, but was impressed nonetheless. By now, he was faster than Harle, at least when it came to rowing. Harle and Jack always had little competitions going on, about the faster rower, the faster mast climber and countless others. It was just more fun to train like that. And even though Harle had topped him in every competition at the beginning, she was now losing in most of the strength-demanding ones. She was a pretty skilled fighter because she had good reflexes and could move fast, but when it came to brute strength, she was no match to any of the other members. Not that she cared too much about that, though.

"Oui, he'z trés fast.", Harle answered, waving her hand to Jack, smiling broadly.

After three more minutes, Jack finally reached the shore Harle and Kidd were waiting at.

"Hi there ladies.", he said and stood up to allow Harle and Kidd to get in. Harle noticed the deep breaths he took, a sign that he really did his best to come here as fast as possible.

He was a handsome young man of twenty-one years, with light-brown hair, which almost reached his chin and often hung in front of his right eye. He was tall and slender, maybe even a bit too slender for his own good, Harle always thought. But slowly, Jack had begun to grow more muscular and didn't seem as frail as he had seemed when she had first met him.

"Hiya mate. Good ta see you've gotten faster.", Kidd said and gave him a clap on the back. Harle nodded at him and smiled, then took a seat beside Kidd.

Soon they were on their way back to the ship. They didn't talk much on the way. Harle found she was pretty tired and just wanted to sleep and Kidd was too hungry to concentrate on anything else than that. As for Jack, he never really spoke much in presence of Kidd. He respected her deeply, but also feared her occasional outbursts when she was in a bad mood. And judging from the look on Kidd's and Harle's faces, something didn't go as planned and therefore, he was almost sure they weren't in the mood to talk.

"Here we are.", Jack said hesitantly as he shook Kidd and Harle out of their thoughts. He got up and climbed up first, then turned around and reached out his hand to help the girls up. Kidd, however, climbed up by herself and elegantly swung herself onto the deck, grinning at Jack. Harle, who at first had wanted to take the offered hand, now imitated Kidd and reached the deck almost as gracefully as she had.

"There you are again! Good ta see nothin' happened ta ya. How did it go?" The captain stood proudly in front of the girls, despite leaning heavily on his crutch he needed to support him. He smiled broadly and Kidd could see the sparkle in his left eye. The right one had been damaged long ago, and he wore an eye flap ever since. Only the annoying parrot, every of those pirate captains in children's stories kept, was missing.

"Don't even ask! What did ya think we'd find with that lousy information ya gave us? It's not like Viper Manor's bloody waitin' ta be robbed from pirates, ya know. Were we supposed ta search through the whole mansion!" Harle flinched at the harsh tone Kidd was talking in. She still wasn't used to this special "Kidd-Captain" talk. They always talked to each other like that, and just from listening, it was hard to tell whether they'd start ripping their heads off or not. Harle, who still preferred to talk like a civilized human, couldn't quite understand that way of speaking and she swore to herself to never talk like them. She was still a little proud of her accent.

"So ya didn't get anythin'?", the captain said, sounding only a little disappointed.

With her left foot tapping on the floor angrily, Kidd threw the maps they had found at his feet. Looking to the side, she said: "That's all we found. Everythin' else there was worthless. Don't even know if this'll be useful at all."

The captain picked it up and took a quick look at each of the three maps. "Looks like a bloody cheap treasure map, but somethin's odd 'bout these crosses. Why two of 'em?" With a grunt, he rolled them up again. "We'll talk 'bout this later. Just rest for now. And the others, move yer sorry arses and take course on the Isle of the Damned. Gotta pick up Hack n' Slash. Hurry up!"

"Aye!", the crew shouted and everyone got back to work.

"Damn, just when I started ta get used ta not hearing their yellin' all the time.", Kidd said jokingly. These two brothers were always quite noisy, it drove her crazy sometimes. But they were extraordinarily strong and the best team imaginable. They weren't very bright though, but Kidd didn't think of herself as very intelligent either, so she didn't complain about that. Their strength made up for it and when things became difficult, they had proven themselves as brave and dependable buddies countless times in the past. Kidd trusted them deeply.

Kidd smiled in her reverie, but eventually came back to present. Turning around, she took Harle's hand gently, leading her down to the lower floor where their cabin was. Their cabin was the only one big enough for two persons, aside from the captain's, who never had other people sleeping in his room, though.

Kidd opened the door and immediately headed to the bed, letting herself drop onto it with a thud.

"Geez, I'm tired…but I'm hungry too. What should I do, Harle?", Kidd asked, wailing like a child. Instead of answering, Harle smiled mischievously and lay down beside Kidd, pulling her close for a kiss.

Having longed for this moment the whole time during their mission, Harle just hoped no one would knock at the door and disturb them. Ever since Harle came to this ship together with Kidd, the crew had developed a habit of gathering in front of their cabin in moments like these. Sometimes Harle wondered just how many men on board hated her just for snatching Kidd from them. However, Harle found it quite amusing.

"Ah, that's fine too, I guess.", Kidd said after they broke the kiss and giggled. She then exhaled deeply and turned on her back, staring at the ceiling in contentment. Closing her eyes, she listened to hers and Harle's breathing.

"Harle?", she asked softly, her eyes still closed.

"Hm?", Harle answered, looking at her, "what iz it, mon amour?"

"Don't ya think there's somethin' wrong with the maps? I mean, Marbule, c'mon…as if there's somethin' ta get there. I think it's bloody strange.", Kidd said quietly. She still had her eyes closed, and it was hard to tell if she was falling asleep or not.

Harle frowned. It was odd for Kidd to think so much about things like that. Usually, she was always up to exploring.

"If you think it'z odd, zen we juzt have to go and look, non?", Harle answered cheerfully, curious as well. She didn't have a good feeling about it, but she wasn't afraid, as long as Kidd was with her.

"I'll speak ta the captain later…or tomorrow and ask him ta send us ta Marbule. This time, we'll get somethin' for sure." Even though she was already half asleep, Kidd sounded as confident as ever. Harle chuckled and snuggled closer to Kidd, falling asleep as well.

Together, they slept peacefully for the next five hours, until a rough, loud voice reached their ears from the corridor in front of their cabin. Loud voices weren't entirely unusual on this ship, but this one was just a bit too loud to simply overhear and continue sleeping. Kidd got up first, rubbing her eyes in annoyance as she listened to the voices.

"Whaddaya mean, they need ta sleep? The captain told me ta get her, so stop talkin' 'bout them like they are babies."

Kidd could hear a yelp as someone was pushed aside. It was Jack's voice, which she was almost unable to hear compared to the loud voice, which most probably belonged to Slash.

Kidd sighed and got up. Followed by a few curses, she opened the door.

"Could ya stop yellin' already? What's the problem?", Kidd asked, leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed.

However, instead of an answer, Slash took her by surprise with a fierce hug, which almost caused Kidd to faint from lack of air.

"There you are, mate! Nice ta see nothin' happened ta ya!", Slash said with genuine happiness and finally let go of Kidd. "The captain calls, better not let him wait for too long, eh?" He smirked at Kidd and then turned to leave.

Kidd sighed and followed him. She was still a bit sleepy, and she hoped the news from the captain would make up for waking her.

After Kidd had left, Jack slowly got up to his feet again and looked into Kidd and Harle's cabin. Harle was still lying on the bed, as if completely oblivious to it all.

"May I come in?", Jack asked hesitantly and knocked onto the doorframe, not entirely sure if Harle really was sleeping or not.

"Mais oui.", Harle answered and turned to smile at him. Her hair was a bit messy, but Jack decided to say nothing. Harle didn't look any worse because of something like this, anyway.

"I was wondering if you could show me that move again. I'm still bad with my knives, you know." Jack scratched the back of his head. He found it somewhat embarrassing to always as Harle for help, but she was about the only one he could ask without being laughed at.

"Of course, mon ami." Harle leapt up from her bed and indicated Jack to follow her. On her way out she quickly snatched her deck of cards.

Outside, they went to their usual training place, at the back of the ship where they weren't too much in the way. Quickly, Jack took out his knives and began the practice. He could already aim pretty well with one throwing-knife, but when it came to throwing three or more at once, they flew haphazardly into every direction.

Jack wasn't about to give up, though. He placed three knives into his right hand and threw them with full force into direction of the mast, which was marked with a cross. Again, the knives flew everywhere but in direction of the mast, and Harle had a hard time avoiding two of them.

"Non, non, non.", she said with a sigh, walking beside Jack, taking out three of her cards. "Ze trick behind zis move iz, you don't throw every card at once. It juzt lookz like that, comprends-tu? You juzt have to throw zem in a succession trés rapide."

To her dismay, Jack looked completely dumbfounded, so Harle thought it better to just show him what she meant. She placed the three cards carefully between the sides of her fingertips. Jack imitated her immediately, having a little trouble with this, because the knives weighed more than cards.

Then Harle reached back, making sure her cards pointed to the ground, and threw them forward. Jack had trouble to see how Harle released every card one after another. First she released the card between her index and middle finger, then the other two in the same manner. Throwing them one by one left her enough time to aim each card, so that they all flew into exactly the same direction.

When Jack lifted his head to see where the cards hit, he saw that every card hit the cross perfectly. Which wasn't easy, regarding how the target was about fifteen metres away from them.

"…perfect, as always.", he said, not quite able to hide his amazement.

"Zat was not'ing. Soon you will be juzt az good, truzt moi.", Harle said and giggled, patting him on the shoulder. "Juzt try it, mon ami."

Jack nodded enthusiastically and reached back. This time, Harle distanced herself a bit, not fully trusting Jack's skills yet. Then, with one smooth movement, he sent the knives flying towards the cross.

Upon hearing a thud, both dared to look at the cross. One knife had split one of Harle's cards into two, and therefore, had hit perfectly. The other two stuck a few centimetres above it.

"Trés bien!", Harle exclaimed and clapped her hands together.

"Th…thanks.", Jack said shyly, more than a little surprised by his achievement.

Just when Harle wanted to say something, Kidd's voice interrupted her.

"Oi, Harle! Over here! The captain wants ta talk with ya!", she shouted, making sure Harle, who was at the other end of the ship, could hear her. Harle waved, indicating she would come soon, then turned to Jack.

"Make sure to practize bien, oui? Moi will show you how to hit trois targetz later!" Harle hugged him briefly and then turned to hurry to Kidd. Jack watched her running towards Kidd for a moment, but then thought it better to concentrate on practice.

Upon reaching Kidd, Harle could already tell what kind of news awaited her. With that sparkle in Kidd's eyes, it could only be a mission.

Harle bowed slightly before the captain, showing her respect. When she looked up again, she saw a wide grin on the captain's face.

"After inspectin' those cheap-lookin' maps, I think it's worth a shot. Who knows, there might be some really big treasure there. And 'cuz you're the ones who found 'em, you're gonna be the ones trying ta get it. That all right with ya?"

Both Kidd and Harle nodded.

"Awright then! We'll be headin' ta Marbule first! Hurry up, guys!", the captain shouted.

"You two relax a little. It'll take at least eight hours till we reach Marbule. Prepare yerselves well."

"Aye!", both girls answered and headed back to their cabin.

Back in their room, Kidd immediately lay down on the bed and fell asleep, while Harle started preparations for their mission. She tried to think of every possible scenario that could happen in Marbule, and how to deal with them. Thinking of possible fights, she reasoned that another deck of cards would be more useful than elements, for they would most likely be fighting humans, not monsters. If they would have to fight at all. Having only limited space in her pockets, she also chose to take just four Heal elements with her. They had to be enough.

Harle left the rest of the preparations up to Kidd, she didn't want to get into a fight again, just because she did what she thought best. However, watching Kidd sleeping peacefully, Harle wondered why they even had had a fight at all.

A/N #2: I'm sorry for the lack of…action in this chapter. But I needed to introduce a few characters first, I can't write the whole story just with Kidd and Harle XD Usually, I don't really like original characters in fanfics, but seeing how the only known member of Radical Dreamers was Kidd, it couldn't be avoided. I hope they're not too annoying or something like that.


	3. Loss

Author's Note: First off, thanks to everyone who reviewed my story. (And yeah, sorry I forgot that in the last chapter, I promise I won't update so late at night again XD) Thank you so much people. I probably wouldn't be writing this without your kind words. Anyway, there isn't much to say about this chapter, just hurry and read it ; ) And make sure to leave a review if you have questions, remarks or any opinion about this chapter at all. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 3 – Loss

It was already two after midnight when Harle heard a knock at the door. It wasn't unexpected, in fact, Harle had waited the last two hours for this knock. It meant Jack was here, and that could only mean one thing: they had arrived at the shore of Marbule.

It wasn't that Harle had waited for this knock because she was eager to go on this mission, though. No, the feelings Harle felt right now could only be described as dread. Unfounded, of course. She had no reason to be afraid of this mission, even if some of Viper's men were to show up. She could deal with them easily and so could Kidd. But somehow, her bad premonition got to her nerves. She had a feeling that something terrible was about to happen, but she couldn't tell what that something was.

However, before giving in to more contemplation, she stood up and walked across the room to open the door. As awaited, Jack's smiling face showed up in front of her, giving away the relief of seeing her instead of Kidd.

"Ah, it's you…err, the captain calls. We've arrived at Marbule." With that, Jack laid his hands onto Harle's shoulders and nodded, like he always did when either of them set out for a mission. It was his way of wishing her good luck.

But this time, he did something different. Without saying a word, he reached into one of is pockets and took out one of his throwing-knives, gently laying it into Harle's right hand.

"Take this. I'm sure it'll be helpful." Harle wanted to say something, but Jack had already turned around and left.

Harle frowned, looking at the throwing-knife in her hand. How could that knife be any helpful? She had her cards, there wasn't a big difference between throwing-cards and –knives. Sure, the knives were a little heavier and therefore, they'd make a bigger impact when thrown with full force, but Harle didn't really get how this would come in handy for her.

After a few moments, she just shrugged, putting the knife carefully into her pocket. Turning around, she saw Kidd still sleeping, oblivious to everything. Harle had to smile at herself while she fetched Kidd's equipment. Kidd always seemed not to worry about anything, something Harle honestly envied her for. Also, she always seemed so at peace while sleeping, despite her harsh behaviour when she was awake.

"It must be because she doezn't have zese nightmarez…", Harle thought sombre. Even though having Kidd by her side every night was extremely reassuring, troubles and fears managed to sneak into her dreams every once in a while. Usually, she put them aside, decided not to think about them too much, but she never managed to ignore them completely. They always seemed so real.

Harle scolded herself inwardly. She was an adult, how could she be scared of some dreams?

"Hey, Kidd. Wake up, ma chère." Harle whispered into Kidd's ear, still holding her equipment rolled up in her right hand.

Slowly, Kidd opened her eyes, smiling at the sight of Harle.

"Is it time already? Jeez…", Kidd mumbled, while trying to stand up awkwardly. Harle just nodded and gave her the equipment. It wasn't much, about the same weight as Harle's things, but they didn't really need much aside from their weapons. A backpack full of useful items would just slow them down.

Kidd grabbed her things and together, they went upstairs to meet the captain, who was already waiting for them, tapping with his foot impatiently.

"'Bout time. Are ya ready ta go?", he asked, turning his head towards Marbule.

"Aye." Kidd answered while Harle only nodded.

"Good. Take as much time as ya need. We'll be waitin' behind the cliff on the other side of the isle. No one's gonna see us there. Though ya'll have ta swim a bit on yer way back." With that, the captain laughed hoarsely. "Now go and be sure ta find somethin' useful this time." He said and smirked.

Without saying another word, Kidd and Harle turned and climbed down the ship, taking a seat in the rowing-boat, which escorted them directly to the shore of Marbule.

Reaching the shore, Harle found Marbule to be almost invisible at night. There wasn't a single light to be seen, unlike towns like Termina or Porre, where the lights never fully went out. If she didn't know about Marbule, she wouldn't see it from the shore.

"Alright, let's go.", Kidd said, taking Harle's hand. Harle always felt a bit awkward when Kidd did this. It wasn't like they were taking a walk, after all. But this was one of Kidd's simple gestures to show she loved her, and therefore, Harle was grateful.

They reached the village after about ten minutes. Kidd took out the map they had found and tried to read it with the moonlight as her only source of light.

"Let's see, I guess the first cross is this house.", Kidd said and pointed to the almost cave-like house directly after the entrance to Marbule. "The other one…I guess it's the cave back there." Again, Kidd pointed at it, but it was too far away for Harle to see from here. However, she knew exactly which cave Kidd meant and she didn't like it one bit.

Upon seeing Harle's fearful look, Kidd sighed and rolled the map up again. "I'll take the cave, and you'll look what ya can find in that house. Alright?", she asked, sounding a little bit too cheerful, Harle thought.

"Oui, let'z do it. Be careful." Harle gave her a quick kiss before they parted and Kidd went over to the cave, while Harle watched her until she got out of sight.

Then, as silently as possible, Harle sneaked around the house, to make sure no one was waiting here to ambush her once she was inside it. To her relief, nobody was there, so she went inside. Again, nobody was there. Harle wondered if that house was unoccupied to begin with. If that was the case, it was a very welcomed coincidence, because it meant less work for Harle.

Quietly, she searched through the clay pots, carefully opening every single one, but finding only stored food in the process. This reminded her of her last mission, where she searched rather aimlessly for something she didn't even know how it looked. Only this time it was even worse, she didn't know what she was looking for at all.

Leaving the pots, she walked over to the table, or what she supposed to be one, seeing how it was just one big stone with a smooth and even surface. Again, there wasn't anything of any value at all. Harle grumbled, but before she could turn around to walk over to the bed, the tip of a sword, being poked rather painfully into her back, halted her abruptly.

* * *

"Now what should I find in this bloody cave?", Kidd grumbled and walked through the water, which reached up to her ankles. She had spent the last fifteen minutes with searching the slippery ground for something striking, something looking valuable. She couldn't see much in this cave, so she had to feel her way along the walls, which annoyed her greatly. What a stupid way to search for treasure. If she had known this earlier, she would have brought a torch or something like that with her.

"How could someone make a bloody cross on THIS place? There's nothin' here!", she mumbled, unnerved. She had half a mind to kick the wall in frustration, but wisely decided against it.

"Aren't we enough, lady?", a voice spoke suddenly, causing Kidd to twirl around.

"Who's there!", she yelled, unsheathing her dagger. It was too dark, so she couldn't see much beside the reflecting surface of the water, which blinded her more than helping her, actually. However, she couldn't hear any footsteps in the water, which meant they, whoever they were, had to be at the entrance of the cave. Kidd exhaled softly. At least there wasn't anyone behind her then.

"Whaddaya want?", she shouted, hoping they would answer this time. She needed some clues as to where they were standing, otherwise she couldn't do anything at all. The first time they spoke she was too surprised to care about the direction the voices came from.

Suddenly, an arrow whizzed by her ear, startling her. Sweat began to trickle from her brow and she clenched her fists. She looked around hurriedly, searching for something to help her out of this situation. The arrow had been too close to be sheer luck. Whoever they were, they knew exactly where she was standing, while she was completely in the dark, literally.

She had to do something, and fast. She had a feeling the next arrow wouldn't miss like the previous one. However, Kidd didn't dare to move, they would hear her steps and know where she was. Just like they did now. For a moment, Kidd wondered what she could have done to have these people been sent after her. If they were Viper's men, as she suspected, then the map must've been worth a lot more than she had initially thought.

Kidd couldn't dwell on these thoughts for long, though. She heard another arrow being shot several metres in front of her and for a short moment, she could see the iron tip of the arrow, reflected by the moonlight. As quickly as possible, she leapt to the side, not bothering with being quiet anymore. However, she couldn't avoid the arrow completely and it struck her deep into her right shoulder.

Crying out from pain, she stumbled into the water, clutching her shoulder firmly. It was almost too much to bear, every movement of her right arm caused immense pain. As fast as she could, she crawled behind a rock at the back of the cave. At least that would buy her some time, and if the men were indeed stupid enough to follow her into the water, it would make things a lot easier.

Breathing heavily, she leaned against the rock, closing her eyes, focusing. Then with one quick pull, she removed the arrow from her shoulder. It took her quite some effort not to scream out loud from the pain. She turned the arrow around in front of her face, grimacing at the blood which covered half of it. Pulling it out didn't make her shoulder feel any better, but at least it wouldn't hurt her any more than it already had.

Now it was all or nothing. She still didn't know where these men were exactly, but they had to be at the opposite end of the cave. Slowly, Kidd took out a Volcano element, turning it around in her fingers, still contemplating whether to use it or not. She was sure it would hit at least one of them, but she couldn't cast another element immediately afterward and also, if the others were left unharmed, there wasn't much she could do with just her left hand. Although she could use her dagger with both hands, the weakness of her left arm was still undeniable.

It was no use. She had to trust on the Volcano element. If she hesitated any longer, she'd lose consciousness. Standing up, she turned around and cast the element. Immediately the end of the cave was completely covered in fire. Kidd could hear the screaming of two men, as they were surrounded by the flames, their clothes on fire. Kidd knew it wouldn't kill them, but she hoped it would at least delay them for some time.

Kidd looked around to check for other men before the fire went out, leaving her in complete darkness again. About fifteen metres from her, she saw two soldiers charging her. They were indeed Viper's men, they wore the same uniforms, Kidd noticed. But before she could give it a second thought, she ran towards them, hoping the flames would brighten up the cave just a few seconds longer.

With full force, she jumped towards the first one, hitting him with her right knee straight into his face. The soldier flew backwards, hitting the wall with his head.

Kidd smiled contently, but instantly turned to face the other one, preparing herself for his attack. The soldier held a mighty Stone Sword and Kidd hoped she had a chance against him. Equipped with a Prism Dagger she had the better weapon, but he was in far better condition. Kidd had already trouble to see clearly, her vision was blurred and began to get darker with each second.

Kidd could hardly see the sword coming down on her, and she had trouble blocking it with her dagger. She managed to do so, but it forced her down on her knee, putting her in an unfortunate position.

And then, there was darkness. For a moment Kidd thought she had gotten blind, before she realized it had only been the fire going out. Nevertheless, she saw worse than ever now, with her eyes having trouble to adjust to the sudden darkness.

Streams of sweat ran down her face, mingling with tears, which escaped from her eyes. It was no use. Kidd's left arm was shaking under the pressure of the sword, and she knew she could only last for a few more seconds. And even if she managed to beat him, there were most likely the two other soldiers, let alone god knows how many people who stood outside of the cave. Kidd had no doubt Viper wasn't above sending at least twenty people after them, to make sure they died.

Then it hit her. Harle was in danger as well! Kidd couldn't believe she hadn't thought of her earlier. She didn't want to think what those soldiers had already done to her.

"Die already!", the soldier above her yelled, pressing even harder than before. Kidd couldn'thold it backanymore and jumped to the side, barely escaping the sharp blade of the sword. However, she was lying on the ground now, breathing and coughing, unable to stand up again. With dread she listened to the footsteps approaching her.

"There's no use in fighting. Just let me get this over with.", he said and chuckled.

It was only now that Kidd realized who this voice belonged to. It was the same soldier who had caught her in Viper Manor, while she was searching for the Blazing Heart in Viper's office.

"And after I kill you, I'll get your little girlfriend as well."

Kidd's mind snapped. No matter how weak and tired she was, she refused to give up and die by the hands of this man!

Before the soldier had time to raise his sword again, Kidd was already on her feet and rushed forward. He stepped aside, a futile attempt to escape Kidd's dagger.

Without screaming or even saying a word, Kidd pushed the blade deep into his chest. So deep that she didn't even have the strength to pull it out again. It wasn't necessary anyway. The man broke down in front of her, his breathing uneven and his limbs twitching.

Kidd stumbled backwards, falling into the water, which almost reached up to her mouth.

"Forgive me…Harle…", she whispered. Tears were still running down her face, and they didn't stop, even as Kidd had already lost consciousness.

* * *

"What do you want? Réponde-moi!", Harle said angrily as she lifted one of the soldiers up. Two others lay on the ground in front of her, unconscious. They had underestimated her, thinking she was just an ordinary girl. However, there was still the spirit of a dragon within her. A spirit who didn't like to give up.

After the soldier didn't say anything, Harle shook the man roughly, tightening her grip onto his collar. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she enjoyed it and it took a little effort to refrain from killing him this very moment.

"Viper…the maps…kill you…", the man answered between desperate gasps for breath, his eyes full of fear, begging Harle to release him.

"Moi comprends…so ze mapz were zat important, oui?", Harle asked, but the man had already passed out. Harle didn't bother to wake him up again and just tossed him aside. She didn't want to lose more time, she was worried about Kidd. If these soldiers knew where Harle was, they surely knew where Kidd was, as well.

Harle wanted to run to the cave, but thought better of it and decided to drag the soldiers into the house first. She didn't want the villagers to see these men first thing in the morning.

After shoving the men inside the house, Harle made a dash for the cave. It wasn't a terribly long way, but Harle had to look out to not fall off the bridge, which connected both sides of the village. The bridge was slippery and Harle thought it better to just jump over it instead of running.

It took her only five minutes to get to the cave. However, to Harle, it was five minutes full of worry for Kidd. She had hoped to meet her on the way, but there was no sign of her at all.

Just when she was about to enter the cave of the Black Dragon, she heard a strange sound behind her. She turned around immediately, already armed with ten cards, five in each hand. She couldn't see anyone, but the sound remained. As it got closer, Harle identified it as footsteps, but not ordinary ones. The ones she heard were slow and heavy, like something big was approaching.

Fear got a hold of Harle when she realized what these footsteps sounded like. They sounded like a dragon.

Harle's legs felt weak all of a sudden, as she took a few steps backwards. She shook her head rapidly, telling herself over and over that it could never be a dragon. She herself saw all of them die!

However, that alone didn't keep her from screaming when she saw him: the Black Dragon. His eerie yellow eyes shone brightly, coming closer with each step he took. Slowly, surely.

Harle couldn't bear the sight of him. She walked backwards, hands over her mouth. A few tears escaped her eyes as she kept on shaking her head in disbelief.

"Non…non! You are dead…you are dead!", Harle shouted. Her whole body was shaking uncontrollably. Her mind was spinning, trying to imagine every possible explanation for this. There wasn't one, though. She just couldn't think of a reason for the Black Dragon to reappear.

She still remembered…how the Sky Dragon had told them that they couldn't kill them all. That they weren't meant to die. That they'll always come back until she was finally dead.

"Either you give up or we'll have to kill you."

Harle raised her head. What was that? Who had spoken to her? It wasn't the voice of the Black Dragon. Who was it, then?

After a few seconds, Harle gathered the courage to look at the dragon. She saw a man standing closely beside it. A soldier.

"We already have your friend. There is no use in fighting. If you resist, we'll have to kill you both.", the soldier said calmly, as if he had practiced that line a thousand times before.

Harle couldn't believe what she had just heard. They had Kidd! She stared at the soldier, refusing to believe it. He had to be lying. There was absolutely no chance that her Kidd would be caught by a handful of soldiers! It was just plain ridiculous!

"You're lying!", Harle yelled desperately, crying.

The soldier took a few steps towards Harle, and so did the dragon. They were only three metres apart, a distance that made Harle shiver.

"Unfortunately, I'm not. You have no chance but to give up. Otherwise your dear friend has to die. And you too, eventually." The soldier was smiling confidently, a smile that made Harle sick just by looking at it.

Harle tried to walk backwards, but found that there was an edge, with just water two metres beneath it.

"I'm serious. Give up now if you don't want to die.", the soldier repeated. The dragon growled, as if in confirmation.

Harle couldn't stand it any longer. She leapt high into the air, and threw all ten cards at once. Three of them hit the soldier, more than enough to keep him from following her, while the other seven were aimed at the dragon.

Safely, Harle landed behind them, instantly starting to dash off. She didn't even turn around, she just ran, just hearing the howl of the dragon and the cries of the soldier.

Another time, she might have been happy to hear that a few of her cards were enough to cause so much pain to the dragon to make him howl. She must have aimed pretty well.

But this time, she just ran, without thinking. She didn't run back into the village, she feared other soldiers might be there to ambush her. After all, this all seemed pretty well planned.

To escape, Harle chose to climb up the rocks at the north-east end of the village. They weren't ordinary rocks, though. They seemed more like pools to collect water, though Harle doubted that the village would ever be in need of collected water, seeing how there was a river going right through the village.

She didn't think about that, anyway. She just focused on climbing up, and fast. It wasn't easy, she slipped more than once, almost losing her balance. Sheer luck prevented her from falling down again…and probably dying.

After reaching the top, she instantly pressed onward, without a moment to catch her breath, without a moment looking back. She ran across the plateau, already seeing the cliff the captain had talked about. It was so close.

But then, she heard this trampling behind her again. This time, she had to turn back and look. And indeed, just like she had feared, it was the dragon. He had followed her the whole way.

"Why? Why are you here!", Harle screamed, not caring about her tears anymore, which ran freely across her face.

The dragon didn't answer. Instead, he swung his tail and hit Harle with it, sending her flying backwards several metres. In fact, Harle got a grip on the edge the very second she was about to fall down. She wouldn't survive a fall from this height.

Harle didn't care about the broken ribs she most likely had after this attack, she just tried to pull herself up again. It wasn't meant to be. When Harle looked up, she stared right into the eyes of the Black Dragon. She almost lost her grip from the shock. The dragon stood right above her, ready to stamp onto her hand and kill her with that.

Harle looked down, and then up again. The dragon grunted, raising one paw. Gathering her remaining pieces of consciousness, Harle made a decision.

She wouldn't have it. She absolutely wouldn't let herself be killed by that dragon.

And so, she let go. She let go of the cliff and therefore, she let go of everything. Everything she ever had and everything she ever was.

While falling, she could still see the surprised eyes of the dragon, before he turned around and left the cliff.

Harle smiled. At least she wasn't killed by that dragon.

* * *

The soldier smiled approvingly when he saw the dragon returning from the cliff.

From behind him, another person approached with slow, controlled steps. The soldier heard it and turned around. A smile crossed his face.

"Did she see the wings?", a female voice asked, dark and devoid of emotion.

"No.", the soldier answered, "It wouldn't matter anyway. She is dead."

"Is that so?", she asked with an evil smile. The soldier nodded and she started to laugh madly.


	4. Weakness

Author's Notes: I know it took a long time, but I had some difficulties with this chapter and had to rewrite some parts a few times, but here it is. Again, thanks a lot for the reviews I got, especially to Writers' Blade, who always makes me happy with his regular and kind reviews. If you like my story, be sure to review and I'll try to hurry a bit more with the next chapter.

Chapter 4 – Weakness

She had run away. By letting go of that cliff, she had run away. She hadn't want to…it was just…she didn't have much choice. At least she tried to tell herself that, clinging tightly to the cliff, with the wind pulling at her mercilessly.

She didn't know why she had even bothered to try and save herself. It was all too late now, anyway. She had run away. Kidd was gone, and therefore, everything she longed for in this cruel world, where she wasn't granted to live a happy life.

Still, she had desperately tried to stop the fall by striking Jack's throwing knife into the sturdy surface of the cliff. And it worked, even though not as well as she had expected. Instead of halting her fall, it just slowed it down by a bit. She had had to use her left hand and her feet to finally stop the fall with tremendous efforts. But looking down now, she saw that she was still about thirty metres high, a height she wasn't likely to survive if she were to let go of the cliff, willingly or otherwise.

However, she couldn't just stand here forever. Her hands, raw and bleeding, were already getting weaker and she wasn't sure if she could keep herself from falling much longer. She looked down onto the ocean. There still wasn't a single sign of the ship. Or maybe she just couldn't see it because of the darkness. It would still take at least two hours until daybreak, a time she couldn't even afford to think of at the moment.

Tears welled up in her eyes, and she didn't even try to blink them away. Why didn't she just let go? She would die anyway, so why not end this now? Still, somewhere in the back of her mind, she refused to let herself die so easily. Because in that corner of her mind, there was still hope that Kidd was alive.

She looked down again. There just had to be something she could do. There was a small beach directly under her. It wasn't much, merely a few square metres of sand, which looked actually more like little stones, now that she looked closely.

Everything else below her was water, though she didn't know just how deep. If it was deep, Harle had the chance to survive. But then again, there were some ugly rocks sticking out of the water, which could break her back effortlessly.

Harle couldn't believe she was thinking that much, while her hands still ached, pleading Harle to let go already. She was just choosing between two different ways to die, and it almost made her laugh.

However, she wanted at least to try everything before she died. She didn't want to give her life away that easily, now that she had a choice. With that, she pushed herself off the wall as hard as she could. She didn't know if this would really save her, but then again, she didn't actually care that much. She had already been prepared to die and she still was now.

In the air, she turned around so that she could see the ground, and spread her arms and legs wide in a feeble attempt to slow down her fall.

It didn't slow down, but time passed slowly for her nonetheless. It was as if she was taking every single detail of her surroundings in. Every wave, every rock on the ground under her, every twinkle of moonlight on the surface of the ocean. She felt as if she saw everything, in those few seconds she spent in the air. Those few seconds which could mean the rest of her life.

Despite the situation a small smile appeared on her lips. She was already above the ocean, which increased her chances of surviving by a bit. However, her hand trembled as she took a Gravity Ball element out of her pocket. Crossing her arms, she cast it onto a rock directly under her, crushing it into a thousand pieces. At least one lethal obstacle less.

She entered the water headfirst. It was colder and harsher than she had expected. But then again, she must have been naïve to think that it wouldn't hurt. The water was deep too, though Harle wasn't able to figure out any directions, swirling through the water without control.

Before her eyes, she saw one of her bells twinkle. It must have been ripped off her clothes from the impact and now floated through the water aimlessly. Harle reached out to grab it, but found that she could hardly move her arms. So she just watched it flow further and further away from her, until she lost sight of the shining bell. It was the last thing she saw before she lost consciousness.

* * *

Darkness. Utter darkness was all that greeted her when she slowly opened her eyes, almost shutting them again as she started to feel the pain running through her entire body. Nothing. She lay there, trying to ignore the pain and patiently waiting for her eyes to get accustomed to the darkness. It didn't happen. Even after what seemed like an eternity to wait, she still couldn't make out anything in this darkness. 

Hardly frustrated, she tried to move, but found that she couldn't, partly because of the ropes fettered around her wrists and ankles, but also because with every movement, she felt as if her body would break apart. Her shoulder burned like hell and she soon knew better and stopped her weak attempts to free herself. Her breathing was heavy and sweat started to trickle down her face. If she tried any more, she would surely pass out again. Not that this was necessarily a bad thing, it would at least make her unbearable pain go away, if only for a while.

However, she couldn't allow herself to do that. She didn't even know where she was, although she could guess she was on a ship, judging by the unsteady movements of the place. The wooden walls and floors creaked without pause, but despite that, there was hardly any sound to be heard. She had to be at the bottom of the ship then, beneath the surface of the water, where the fierce clashing of the waves against the sides of the ship was subdued.

She tried to get to her dagger with her tied hands, but soon gave up. It wasn't where it used to be, and even if it were, Kidd felt like her shoulder would snap if she tried to reach it, with her wrists tied tightly behind her back.

Kidd closed her eyes and tried to remember where she left her dagger, when a gruesome image appeared before her eyes, reminding her exactly where her precious dagger had been left. She tried to get the picture out of her mind, which wasn't that easy, since all she could think of right know was her dagger and how much she needed it. Still, she felt a wave of guilt crash down on her.

Though she was a pirate, she hadn't killed many people in her lifetime, and even when she did, it was always to save her own life. Even so, she felt dirty for doing it. The evil one hadn't been that soldier, it was the one who had send him. The soldier had merely been standing on the wrong side. If there even was such a thing like right and wrong.

Kidd shook her head and decided not to ponder about it any longer. She had to find a way out of that place, though she knew the odds weren't exactly favourable for her. She was on a ship after all, there probably wasn't much she could do to escape. Still, she hoped the ship was at least somewhere near the shore. Once she'd freed herself, she would just have to trust her swimming skills.

However, she was thinking too far ahead of herself. She was still lying here on the floor, hardly able to move without pain.

With some effort, she managed to sit up, her feet pushing her backwards until she leaned against the wall, trying to catch her breath. With her mouth, she tried to reach her left shoulder. It didn't work at first, but after some re-positioning, she reached her vest and tugged it down as far as she could with her teeth. She couldn't take it off completely because of her tied wrists, but it was enough to enable her to reach inside her pockets. Rummaging around, she searched for a Fireball element on her element grid, one of the two she knew she had with her. She just had red or green elements in her pocket, the red ones being offensive spells and the green ones for healing. Kidd always told herself she didn't need any fancy status improving elements, so she didn't bother to think much about the elements she took with her. She had just taken a handful of red and green ones and put them on her element grid, and that had been it, as always.

Kidd sighed. There was no way she could differentiate between the elements without being able to see them. She didn't care if she accidentally cast a Heal element (on the contrary, it might be even useful if it weren't for the waste of stamina), but she really didn't like the thought of unleashing a Volcano element instead of a comparably harmless Fireball one.

She hit her head against the wall in frustration. She could kill herself for not remembering where she had put the elements on the grid. Maybe Harle had been right when she always scolded her for being so disorderly. Harle…Kidd wondered what had happened to the most precious person in her life. Harle wasn't a weak person, but the soldiers could have outnumbered her easily. Tears started to form in her eyes, but she refused to let them gain free reign over her. Now was not the time for crying. Besides, Harle was not here with her, so there was still a chance that she had escaped. At least she had to endure with telling herself that for now. She couldn't afford to break down at a time like this.

Impatiently, she took one of the elements from her grid and put it between her tied hands, hoping she got the right one. After a few seconds of hesitation, she cast it, hoping it would go as planned.

Mere split seconds after activating, she could feel the heat between her hands, quickly rising to an unbearable level. Once she felt the rope burning away, the pulled as hard as she could, ripping the rope completely in the process. As quickly as she could, she stood up, running hastily to the opposite end of the room, far away from the fire, which has grown considerably big for the small room she was in.

Thanks to the fire, she could now see that the small room she was in, was completely empty. But also thanks to the fire, she didn't have much time left to get out of the room as well. Kidd started for the door, but found it had no handle, which left her only one way. Using force. Kidd walked as far as possible away from the door, which were two metres at best, considering she couldn't go where the fire had already spread. Reminding herself to use her left instead of her normally preferred right shoulder, she dashed towards the wooden door and hit it shortly after with full force.

It didn't budge. Kidd tried again, pushing even harder now, but only got the same result, just like she did the numerous attempts afterwards. By then, the heat had already risen to a truly uncomfortable level and Kidd didn't know what to do.

She could try to break the door with a more powerful element, but with the fire already taking up most of the room, it would be fatal if it didn't work instantly. Kidd didn't now just how much longer she would be able to bear this heat.

Taking her most powerful Volcano element into her hand, she regarded it, trying to stay as calm as possible under such circumstances, to not jump to conclusions which could mean the end of her life.

Her hands shook from fear and tiredness as she cast the Volcano element, hoping with all her heart that it would work.

* * *

Jack walked up and down the deck in worry. He had expected Harle and Kidd to be back a lot sooner, and seeing that it wasn't very long until daybreak, he wondered what had happened to them. 

"Hey Slash, lend me your glass for a bit.", he said, walking towards Slash while extending his right arm.

"Sure, but you ain't seein' anythin' in this darkness, ya know.", he said and gave it to him.

"Yeah, I know.", Jack answered briefly, occupying himself with the glass. Slash was right, he could hardly see anything aside from the places the moonlight shone upon, which was only the surface of the water, obviously.

Jack sighed and was already going to give the glass back to Slash, when a sudden twinkle caught his sight. Looking closer, he could make out a shape, though he didn't know what or who it belonged to.

"Slash, come here and take a look." Jack merely whispered, still focusing on the shape. Slash did as he was told and looked through it as well. He needed a few seconds, but then he figured out that the shape was actually a floating body.

"It can't be…this silver belt…", Slash whispered, but before he could finish, Jack leapt over the edge of the ship and landed in the water with a loud splash.

Slash wanted to shout after him, but Jack was rushing at full speed towards the floating body and there was no stopping him.

Jack swam as quickly as he could, fast and powerful strokes pushing him onward. He feared it was already too late but he wouldn't believe it until he saw it with his own eyes. Harle…what could have happened to cause Harle to float in the ocean, unconsciously…or even dead?

Swimming even harder towards the end, he didn't even care about the amounts of water he swallowed because of his uncontrolled breathing. He also tried his best to ignore the pain in his arms, which seemed to increase tenfold with each new desperate stroke he took. It was nothing compared to the urgency lying in front of him.

Still, his way seemed longer than he had thought and it took him a thousand eternities to finally reach Harle, who was sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean. He dove straight after her, not even wasting one second to regain his breath. His arms and feet pushed him deeper down into the ocean, getting weaker as the oxygen ran out. He didn't dive upwards again, though. He focused his mind solely on diving. Deeper. Finally, he managed to grip her hand in the very last second before losing sight of her. He shot upwards without wasting a second glance into the dark depths of the ocean.

* * *

The whole place was in flames. They were hot, threatening. With desperation in her eyes she watched the door crumbling under the flames far too slowly. 

This all seemed so familiar. These unbearable flames, blocking her every way to escape, the smoke, which made it hard to see…she felt as if she was back at the orphanage. For a moment, she thought she saw a dead body, lying in the corner of the room, but as she looked closer, she saw that it was only a burning piece of wood.

Kidd sighed. She couldn't lose her mind now. The incident at the orphanage had been long ago, something she couldn't change anymore. Still, standing here, surrounded by the flames, she felt like a small girl again. The girl who couldn't do anything against the fire. Against the death of Lucca. The girl who could just stand in front of Harle and Lynx in shock, waiting to be saved.

Kidd shook her head fiercely. No, she wasn't that weak girl anymore! She had spent the biggest part of her life getting rid of her weaknesses, to become stronger, less vulnerable…able to live on her own.

Without thinking, she dashed towards the door, tearing it apart as she ran through it. However, her clothes caught fire in the process, which quickly began to dissolve into ashes, leaving Kidd's skin on its own to bear with the fire. But Kidd didn't care.

She ran out of the room and along the corridor, not thinking about any directions. She just had to get away from the flames, away from this whole ship.

She made a dash for the stairs, taking a bucket full of water and a broom, which stood beside the stairs, with her. She immediately poured the water over her head and body, getting rid of the flames. Then she took off the top of the broom, so that only the broomstick remained.

Armed with that broomstick, she made her way up to the deck, where, as expected, quite a few soldiers were standing. When they caught sight of Kidd, they immediately gathered, readying their swords. Unexpectedly, they didn't even seem surprised or shouted at her. They just nodded at each other in silent understanding and circled around her.

However, Kidd wasn't in the mood to play and even though she didn't like the thought, with her shoulder in its current condition, she couldn't waste much time or she would pass out.

Wielding the broomstick mostly with her left hand, she knew she didn't have all that much power, but with the opponents standing around her in a circle, there was no way she could defeat them solely with elements.

Still, she cast her Volcano element to her right, hoping to get rid of the roughly ten soldiers standing there and charged the other ten to her leftdirectly after.

She managed to swipe the first soldier off his feet, gaining his sword in the process. With a wide vertical strike, she defeated the second, and the third fell after Kidd's sword had pierced his right thigh.

Still, it was no use. There were still seven soldiers left, and her moment of surprise was long gone. Kidd took a few steps back, feeling the hard wood press against her back all too soon. It was no use. She was cornered.


	5. Desperation

A/N: Actually, I wanted this chapter to be finished sooner, but I guess two weeks are still okay. Thanks again for the review and I hope you'll like this chapter.

Chapter 5 – Desperation

The seven soldiers walked towards her in unison, and with every step, Kidd's fear tripled. They were only a few feet away from her and Kidd had a hard time trying not to show just how afraid she was right now.

Two soldiers were first to attack. With more luck than actual skill, she managed to push the first one away by kicking him right into his stomach, but the second one, which seemed like a female soldier at second glance, was more difficult to handle. Kidd reached out to perform a vertical slash, but her hands were gripped by the soldier's before she could move the sword downwards. Her grip was firm, unyielding and Kidd was shocked to feel so weak within this grip.

However, she had to act before the other five soldiers attacked. With her free right hand, she took the sword out of her left. Now with her free left hand, she pulled hard at the soldiers' grip, knowing that she wouldn't let go. The effect was just like she had expected. Surprised by Kidd's harsh tug, the soldier lost her balance for a moment. That was just the moment that Kidd could easily bring her sword to the opponents' throat. The soldier gasped in surprise, but didn't dare to move. Even the other five soldiers, which had been just about to strike, now froze in motion and took a few steps backwards.

From the look in their eyes, Kidd could tell that they hadn't been prepared to actually fight her. An evil smile crossed her face, as she pulled the soldier closer to her.

"Drop yer weapons or she's gonna die!", Kidd yelled commandingly. The soldiers did as she told almost instantly.

"Now turn around!" The soldiers looked suspicious, but obeyed. However, one of the soldiers turned back and charged Kidd with his bare fist. Kidd was caught by surprise, but managed to dodge the attack by taking a step to the side. Then she got rid of him through a fierce kick with her knee.

Her mind was spinning. She didn't expect one of them to actually dare attacking her and it was sheer luck that she managed to handle it. Also, she feared that she'd accidentally hurt the soldier in front of her. She didn't intend to hurt her, much less kill her just because one of those idiots dared to attack. Initially, she had wanted it to be just like the time at Viper Manor, when she took Riddel hostage. Back then, she had told Riddel not to worry, but now, things seemed different and Kidd obviously had to be a little more…harsh.

The sword trembled in her right hand as she pressed it a little harder against the other woman's throat, partly because of her wounded shoulder but also because she was nervous and afraid to kill her. These swords were amazingly sharp and if the others were to catch her by surprise again, she didn't know how she would react.

Still, Kidd had to regain her composure to pull this off. Soon, a thin line of blood appeared on the soldier's throat, causing her to wince. Kidd stared at the other soldiers.

"I'm serious, ya hear? And if ya don't turn around, I'll bloody slit her throat!", she shouted. This time the soldiers relented and turned around, anxiously awaiting her next action.

They patiently waited and turned back around no sooner than they heard a loud splash.

* * *

When she opened her eyes, she found that she was in a room. She knew this room, but at the same time, couldn't tell where it was. It felt as if it was on the tip of her tongue, not quite remembered…but not forgotten either. 

There were faces too. They were too blurry to be recognized, but Harle had the feeling that she knew these people. And as the voices of these persons came through, that feeling was confirmed.

"Hey, she opened her eyes! Harle, can you hear me? Harle?" It was the voice of a young man. Harle tried hard to see who it was, but soon gave up. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying to withstand the wave of nausea that suddenly came over her. She swallowed hard and slowly opened her eyes again. Her vision was still the same as before.

"Where…iz…moi?", she whispered as she laid her right hand onto her forehead, feeling a terrible headache coming.

"She talked!", she heard a few voices say and the faces above her multiplied.

"Quiet, you'll just confuse her. It'll be better if we leave. Let Jack talk to her alone.", a deep voice said and soon after the room was quiet.

'So it was Jack', Harle thought. She felt odd for not remembering his name earlier. But then, she felt odd in general. Tired, weak, dizzy.

"How are you Harle? Are you okay?", she heard Jack's voice say, thick with worry.

Harle wanted to answer when it suddenly came to her mind. "Where iz Kidd?", she asked urgently. However, her eyes still looked as empty as before. For a moment, Jack thought she had gotten blind.

"She…I…We don't know. We just found you floating in the ocean, but there was no sign of Kidd. What in the world happened in Marbule?"

Harle tried to remember. Why did she float in the ocean? And what exactly happened in Marbule?

Suddenly, the floor trembled. These heavy footsteps were back. Coming closer and closer, resounding in her mind. So that was it…she should have known. Should have known that she could never escape and also, that being with other people would bring nothing but misfortune to them. She tried so hard to believe…

Soon, the footsteps had gotten incredibly loud, threatening to deafen Harle. She rapidly covered her ears with her hands and shook her head violently, trying desperately to make the steps go away. It didn't work. She closed her eyes, wincing with each new step. She tried so hard, she tried so hard…why her!

"Harle! What is it!" Jack jumped up from his stool and leaned over Harle. He gripped her shoulders, shaking her, trying to make her open her eyes. After ten endless seconds, Harle opened her eyes, tears running down her cheeks.

"Ze…dragonz…zey have returned…", Harle whispered, her eyes so empty, yet so full of pain that Jack could hardly bear looking at them.

"The dragons…?" Jack was puzzled. He didn't know much about them, besides that they hadn't seemed to like humans very much. And also, he knew that Kidd and Harle had killed them. All of them. They had never told him why, though.

And now that he thought about it, he wondered what kind of reason they could have had to do so.

"What did they do to you? Tell me what happened, Harle." Jack didn't know what to think. Was Harle just hallucinating?

His suspicion grew even more when Harle suddenly started to smile.

"Did he do somet'ing to moi? Non, non…moi didn't let him." Harle answered, almost looking content if it weren't for her dead looking eyes.

"And Kidd? What happened to her?" Jack knew that this probably wasn't the best topic change, but he just couldn't handle this Harle in front of him. She didn't seem normal, but not crazy either.

"Kidd…you don't know, do you, mon ami? It waz moi…who killed her.", Harle answered, the smile on her face still present, even though she was crying.

* * *

She was almost there. Finally. It would be all well and good again once she reached that damned island in front of her. 

The dive into the water had been a really bad idea, all things considered. It began with the salt water and her right shoulder, which hurt so bad Kidd hadn't thought she'd survive it. The several light burns she had received weren't any better off against the water either. Next was the distance between her and the nearest island, which was ridiculously large and therefore, close to impossible to overcome in her state. And finally, she had been so stupid as to take the soldier down with her. It had seemed like a good idea at first, because by pulling her with her, she eliminated the chance to be backstabbed in the very last second. But now when she turned her head and looked into the angry eyes of that particular woman, she regretted it. Wholeheartedly. It was a good reason to keep swimming, though.

So she had swum at full speed for the last twenty minutes, which actually seemed more like twenty hours to her. But now, she could already see the shore. And once she had reached it, she would get rid of that annoying woman behind her. One would think that she cared more about her own life than to chase unarmed after someone with a very sharp sword. These soldiers nowadays were the worst. Kidd herself would never go that far just because of a job.

Eventually, Kidd felt the ground under her feet and dashed the last couple of metres out of the water towards the beach. There, she turned around to face her pursuer. The soldier got out of the water more slowly, puffing and panting. It must have been considerably harder for her to swim all this way, regarding her clothes. She wore long pants and even a jacket, while Kidd only wore her short skirt and top. Most of the vest had burned away, so it hardly counted as clothing anymore.

Kidd just smiled at the sight and took her sword, holding it with her weaker, left hand. However, the soldier didn't know about her strong and weak hand, so she didn't worry about that.

"Do ya wanna die? Ya should be thankful ta me for not killin' ya earlier, and yet ya follow me 'til here. Whaddaya want?"

The soldier just shot her a hateful glare, and took out a dagger from her jacket. "Revenge. For my brother."

Kidd only managed to gasp in surprise. That was her dagger, no doubt. This blade, which shimmered in every color, and the handle, with a bandage covering it. This was hers, definitely.

"I see. So that was yer brother. Do ya want the same fate?", Kidd asked provokingly.

"You almost killed him!", the soldier now shouted and charged Kidd.

"Almost? Too bad, I thought I had finished him off for sure.", Kidd mocked her, blocking the first attack with ease. However, deep down she was genuinely surprised, and relieved to hear that she hadn't killed him.

"I'll kill you!", the soldier screamed furiously and attacked anew.

Kidd dodged the blade and struck her elbow deep into the soldier's side, causing her to tumble to the ground, clutching her side and breathing hard.

"Like that, eh?", Kidd said and laughed, walking towards the soldier. She was glad the other woman didn't turn out as tough as Kidd expected. She was pretty tired herself and just wanted this to be over as soon as possible.

Just when Kidd tried to take the dagger from the soldier's grasp, the woman quickly rolled aside and managed to stand up. She wavered a little, but Kidd could clearly see the strong will in her eyes.

"You'll see…you'll die soon enough…just like that annoying girl…Harle was her name?", the soldier said, a wicked grin forming on her lips. She clutched the dagger tightly in her trembling hands, preparing herself for the next attack.

Kidd froze. Time stood still for her and she could only think of one thing: Harle was dead. This couldn't possibly be true, yet the instant these three words appeared in her mind, she dropped the sword, barely escaping the dagger she was attacked with. Staggering a few feet backwards, she fell onto her knees. Tears ran freely down her face and her hands were trembling as she tried to wipe them away.

"You're lying!", Kidd screamed, shaking her head. "You're a bloody liar!" She didn't even look at the soldier anymore, staring at the ground in shock. She wanted to pick up the sword again, but her hands were trembling too much and so it fell onto the ground again with a thud.

"I'm afraid I'm not.", the soldier said as she picked up the sword, carefully watching Kidd for any sudden movements, "I didn't see it myself, for I am not in charge of the dragon, but the others told me about it. I heard it was suicide too. How pitiful."

"Don't ya dare sayin' that.", Kidd scowled. Trying to compose herself, she managed to stand up. Clenching her fists, she made a few steps towards the soldier, not bothering with the fact that this woman had two weapons and she none.

"Why shouldn't I? She was a coward. Instead of trying to survive by fighting, she ran away. That's just pathetic."

"Don't ya say that!", Kidd yelled furiously, charging the woman with full force. She ducked under the first slash of the sword and blocked the dagger with her bare hand. Before the soldier could react, Kidd had already leapt onto her and gripped her throat with her left hand, squeezing it tightly.

After a few seconds, the soldier's arms fell limp to the ground. Kidd didn't care, squeezing even harder now. The soldier coughed and choked, trying desperately to breath despite Kidd's hand destroying every possibility to.

"…please…no…don't…kill me…", was all she could manage to say, the fear evident in her eyes.

"You killed her!", Kidd screamed, lifting the soldier's head a bit, only to smash it down onto the ground again.

"You killed her!" Again, she thrust her head to the ground.

"You killed Harle!" The beating stopped. A river of tears ran down Kidd's cheeks and dropped onto the soldier's face, from where they finished their way to the ground. The soldier's eyes were wide open, not because of the pain, but the image right in front of her.

"Harle…" Kidd choked on her words and lost herself in sobs. Her grip around the other's throat loosened, but the woman's desperate gasps for air didn't even reach Kidd's ears anymore.

She just lay there, motionless. Waiting for Kidd to do something. To kill her, or to get off of her. She couldn't stand to see those tears, hear those sobs, anymore. She felt guilty.

After a while, Kidd stood up, looking down on the other woman with a look that the soldier couldn't quite describe. It wasn't that look so full of hate and despair that she saw just a few minutes ago, but it wasn't a friendly one either.

"Ya begged for yer life…that's just pathetic.", Kidd said emotionlessly and walked away. The soldier turned her head, her eyes following Kidd. She saw Kidd casting a Heal element on herself, draining almost all of her stamina with that. But soon after, as the wound on Kidd's hand almost stopped bleeding and her shoulder started to look better, the effect proved itself worthy of that. Now Kidd took off the remains of her vest and tore it to shreds, which she used to bandage her hand.

The soldier saw the tired expression of Kidd as she came back to take the sword and dagger from her hands, and it made her worry unwillingly.

"So…ya never told me yer name.", Kidd said as she sat down at a nearby tree, still the weapons in her hand. With her dagger, she scratched a few lines and circles into the ground lazily. She wondered if there was any worse use for her precious dagger.

A few minutes passed, but still no response came forth from the soldier. She just stared at Kidd, wondering what was happening. After a while, Kidd looked up, meeting her gaze, smiling faintly.

"It's…Eve.", she said hesitantly, rubbing her throat unconsciously.

"Now that's some name…", Kidd chuckled, "for a soldier."

Eve looked surprised for a moment, wondering yet again about the odd behaviour of this stranger.

"Well yours ain't better. Sounds like a name you made up for yourself when you were five.", Eve said, a small smile appearing on her face.

"How did ya know?", Kidd asked with a surprised look, and both of them started to laugh. It surprised both of them that they were laughing at a time like this, under such circumstances.

"I was six though.", Kidd said, chuckling. She smiled as she remembered that day, when she had run to Lucca, telling her of her cool new name. Back when she had first come to the orphanage, she couldn't remember much of herself. Her name, her family, such things. But all of Lucca's names for her had sounded too girly, and so she had made up one herself.

Eve still giggled, looking up to the perfectly blue sky above her.

"Why do we talk like this?", she asked, sounding serious again.

"Why not?", Kidd asked back, joining Eve's gaze at the heaven.

"Just a few minutes ago you tried to kill me.", Eve stated the obvious.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. It was just…they way ya said it…I lost my mind for a moment.", Kidd answered, looking away from Eve. She was surprised at herself, to have lost control like that.

"Why did you stop? Shouldn't you be avenging her? Doesn't she mean anything to you?", Eve sounded desperate, suddenly bewildered at Kidd's indifferent attitude.

"More than ya could ever imagine. But there's nothin' ta avenge." Kidd said calmly. "'Cause Harle isn't dead."

Eve gave her a puzzled look. "How…how can you be sure? The others…they saw it."

Kidd just looked at her, shaking her head. "I know it. After all we've been through together, she wouldn't leave me like that. She would never do that."

Eve looked sceptical. She still didn't think that this girl had survived despite what the others had told her, but she decided not to speak it out loud.

"Yeah, I guess you're right. After all, Viper told us some pretty impressive tales about you two, so I guess she could deal with a dragon alone.", Eve said cheerily, sitting up.

"Dragon…?", Kidd repeated, staring at Eve in shock.

* * *

Harle stood in the lookout above the middle of the ship, watching the ocean far below her in wonder. It almost felt like she was at that cliff again, only that the waves now clashed more fiercely against the ship than they did before onto the beach. Jack had told her that she would have drowned if he hadn't found her. Drowned within these fierce waves, ready to swallow everything. 

"Are you…angry? Do you want moi back?", Harle whispered, staring at the waves. For a moment, she saw a huge shape below the surface of the water, but it was gone again before Harle could take a second look.

"Zey are waiting...moi shouldn't let zem wait…zey call moi…" Harle could hear these heavy, slow steps again. But this time, she didn't even try to cover her ears. It was no use. It was no use to be afraid anymore, so she just stood there, feeling the whole ship sway and tremble under the dragon's steps.

She had a little trouble to keep her balance as she stepped onto the edge of the lookout, her arms spread widely. Her view got a little blurry again, as it always did when she moved her head too fast since she had woken up. It was annoying and Harle wished it would just go away. But she already knew that the only way to get truly rid of everything was death.

Harle looked down on the deck and saw people gathering there, looking up to her in shock, shouting. Harle could tell they were worried. But no, they couldn't help her, they couldn't change her inescapable fate. Oh, how she had wanted to live with them, at Kidd's side, in indestructible happiness. But the dragons were stronger. They always had been and always will be. Forever and ever.

"Harle! Don't!", Jack cried at the top of his lungs. The shock was written all over his face and he didn't have a single doubt that Harle would jump, if she truly intended to. However, he was prepared to catch her. He wouldn't let her die while he was there.

"It's no use.", Harle said in a low voice, smiling. She saw how much Jack cared, and she was glad. But to follow her fate, to protect those dear to her, and above all, to atone for her sin of letting Kidd die because of her cowardice, she had to do this.

"No Harle! Believe me, believe me Harle, we'll find Kidd! You know she isn't dead!", Jack shouted, tears in his eyes. He didn't understand anything. Why Harle said that she had killed Kidd and why she thought of Kidd as dead in the first place. The only thing he knew was that Kidd meant everything to Harle, and that she was the only one who could stop Harle now.

Harle looked down to Jack and favoured him with one last, apologetic smile. Then she saw that shape again, and jumped.


	6. Foggy Directions

A/N: As always, thanks again for the wonderful reviews, they always make my day and inspire me to write faster.

Edit: Argh! Sorry I forgot to add the rulers, must have been confusing to read. I really shouldn't always update around 2 am...

Chapter 6 – Foggy directions

Jack reacted within less than a second. He ran at full speed towards the spot he believed Harle was aiming at. He spread his arms, ready to catch her at all costs. However, he was wrong. Wrong to think that Harle wanted to kill herself. With a shocked expression, he watched Harle pass right above his head. By the time he turned around, Harle had already dived into the ocean behind him. He stared in disbelief at the untamed surface of the water, and waited for endless fifteen seconds for Harle to emerge from it. However, by the time she did, she was already about forty metres away from the ship, and the distance was increasing quickly.

"Harle! Come back!", he shouted desperately as he saw how vigorously Harle was pushing herself through the waves, farther and farther away from the ship. It seemed as if she was trying to escape from them, or rather, as if she was chasing something. However, Jack couldn't see anything in front of Harle, and didn't really expect to, either.

"Hurry! The rowing-boat!", Jack commanded, despite being in no position to do so. The other sailors quickly obeyed and loosened the ropes to set the boat afloat. Jack all but leapt into it, grabbed the paddles and rowed as fast as he could. He had almost lost sight of Harle and he had no time to lose.

The waves were high and strong and Jack had trouble to overcome them without going off course. To him it seemed like for every metre he managed to paddle forward, the waves pushed him two metres backwards again. Jack repeatedly shouted after Harle, but she didn't react at all. She just kept on swimming, farther and farther away from him. Jack wondered where that strength came from. Just half a day ago, he had saved her from drowning and now she was seemingly trying to swim across the whole ocean in this state. And what surprised him even more, he even believed that she could do it.

"Come back Harle!", he cried out, standing up, "Harle!"

She was nowhere to be seen. Jack thrust his paddles down in anger, trying to control this despair and utter helplessness he was feeling. How could she just go away like that? It wasn't fair. He kept staring at the waves, wishing from the bottom of his heart for Harle to come back. She didn't.

After a few minutes, he picked his paddles back up and rowed back to the ship. The other sailors gave him odd looks, wondering why he hadn't been able to catch up to Harle. However, they kept silent as they saw the angry and confused look on his face.

"We have no time to lose! We have to chase after her! Fast!", he shouted, already running over to the front of the ship to prepare the first sail. The others followed and started for the other two sails.

"Hold yer sea horses!", the captain suddenly shouted and the sailors immediately froze, barely managing to turn their heads towards the captain.

"Whaddaya doin'? I believe I'm the captain here, so why are ya followin' his orders?", he asked and grunted in annoyance. He shot Jack a warning glare, but Jack wasn't silenced by that in the least.

"We must hurry or she'll escape!", he shouted, stepping closer to the captain.

"Escape? Since when is she our prisoner?", the captain countered, ignoring Jack's furious attitude.

"You don't understand!", Jack now yelled, clenching his fists.

"I understand very well actually.", the captain said and turned around, "We can't do anythin' for her right now. With this wind, a bloody duck would swim faster than us." And truly, the wind was blowing directly into their faces. Even with no wind at all, they could be faster just by paddling.

"But you have to understand! She'll die if the storm gets any stronger! The waves are so high already!" Jack didn't give up. There just had to be a way.

"No ya bloody have ta understand!", the captain shouted as he rapidly gripped Jack's collar, lifting him off the ground, "Ya can't do anythin' for her right now!", he yelled and loosened his firm grip just as fast and left. The other soldiers, who had just been standing and watching until now, dared to move again and went back to their places.

"You can't do anything for her." This sentence repeated itself over and over in Jack's mind, and with each time, it seemed a little bit more believable. It was the unmistakable truth. Despite wanting so bad to help her, he couldn't do a thing. She had gone on her own will. She hadn't stayed even though he had wanted her to. He was useless. He wasn't Kidd.

Jealousy gripped him despite his efforts to suppress it. She hadn't listened to him. She didn't even care about what he said, or wanted. Probably she didn't even recognize him. But she would, someday. Someday, she would see him for the man he was. But first, he needed Kidd. He hated to admit it, but it was unavoidable. Right know Kidd was the only one who knew what had been really going on in Marbule and what had happened to Harle.

But where could she be? Going back to Marbule contained a great risk, whatever waited there for them had to be dangerous. But also, Jack couldn't even begin to think of anyone who could have done this to Harle, and Kidd too, wherever she was. He knew Harle had talked about the dragons, but the dragons being alive again…it was ridiculous. Jack sighed. It was hopeless.

Jack walked up and down the ship in thought. They had been just there to search for the treasure marked on the map…so what could have happened? Maybe the demi-humans could have something to do with it?

Jack felt bad for suspecting the demi-humans first, but there weren't many humans in Marbule, or rather, none at all. But what could they have to do with the treasure? Did they know of the maps?

Then, it struck him like a flash of lightning. Under different circumstances, he would have laughed at his own stupidity. It was so clear and yet he had already wasted so much time.

"Captain!", he shouted and dashed for the captain's cabin.

* * *

"Lend me that sword of yers for a moment.", Kidd said and turned towards Eve with a smile. 

"S…sure.", she answered and lifted the sword tentatively, her suspicion evident in her voice. She wasn't sure if it was a good idea to give away her only weapon, but if Kidd really wanted to, she figured, she could get it anyway. She had already lost against her twice.

As Kidd noticed it, she just started to laugh, patting Eve's shoulder reassuringly.

"Don't worry, I'll just need it ta chop a few trees down. My dagger's just useless for that kinda thing. Here, why don't ya take it and look for a few lianas or somethin' ta make these soon-ta-be logs hold together.", Kidd said while taking the sword from Eve and placing the dagger in her palm instead.

"So…you want to make a raft?", Eve asked, looking around self-consciously. Somehow this environment, while seemingly peaceful, gave her the creeps. She didn't like being in the wild like that, barely able to defend herself from wild animals which just might be waiting for her here.

"Of course! How did ya plan ta get off this island?", Kidd asked, slightly amused by the soldier's behaviour. She looked kind of scared and uncomfortable with this whole situation and the wish to leave this island as soon as possible was written all over her face.

"I…I thought about waiting here. Surely my comrades will come here to pick me up…after all, they must have seen in which direction we swam…", Eve answered, trying to sound as confident as possible.

Kidd just grinned in response and turned to look out onto the ocean, holding her right hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun. "Well…if ya ask me, it looks pretty bad. Don't see 'em anywhere.", she said and tried to suppress a laugh. And truly, the ship was nowhere to be seen, although it should have been easy to follow them over this relatively short distance.

Eve cast her a mock-glare and started to laugh along with Kidd. "Man, this isn't even funny.", she said and tried to be serious again, "My comrades don't give a damn about me and if I'm found cooperating with pirates, I'm busted."

"Don't think of this a cooperatin', girl. You're still my hostage.", Kidd said with a smirk and pointed the sword at her.

"Oh yeah, I almost forgot. I'm stuck here on this creepy island with an evil, cruel pirate holding me captive. God, what should I do?", Eve said with a dramatic voice.

"Well, going off in search for lianas, for starters.", Kidd laughed and pushed the woman gently towards the forest in front of them, while she herself turned back to inspect the tree right in front of her. "I'm in a hurry, I have ta get off this island as soon as possible. And once we reach the mainland, ya can go wherever ya want."

Eve was just about to go off into the forest when she noticed the serious tone in Kidd's voice.

"Why do I think that hurry of yours has something to do with me?", she asked grinningly, trying to cheer Kidd up a bit. Somehow it was unsettling to see her serious or angry, even though she had known the whole time, that Kidd was merely pretending to be happy and carefree.

"It doesn't. If ya don't plan ta get in my way, that is. I need ta go back ta my crew. They must be waitin'… and Harle too." Kidd's voice grew more serious with each sentence. She looked down, trying to suppress a few tears which threatened to escape her eyes.

Harle…after hearing about this dragon from Eve, she wasn't so sure anymore. If Harle still lived, or if she had died already. Of course, she wouldn't give up hope until it was completely confirmed, but the fear nagged at her constantly ever since Eve had told her about the happenings at Marbule. She still didn't believe it, though. This whole dragon thing. Eve had said she didn't know much about it other than it being something Viper had great hopes for. It was ridiculous. Dragons would never cooperate with humans if they didn't gain anything from it. And also, she had seen every single one of them die. There wasn't such a thing as resurrection or dragons from other possible worlds repeatedly being dragged into this one. There was no such a thing…

Still, the last sentences of the Sky Dragon God haunted her mind, now more than ever.

"_Even if you killed me, that won't change your fate. Other dragons will come here to kill you, over and over again, until Harle is dead. You won't change anything by killing me."_

It couldn't be true could it? The Sky Dragon God couldn't have predicted something like that. But what if? What if these new dragons were really ones from other worlds, just like he had said? Kidd couldn't even start to imagine the impact this would have on Harle. To herself, it wasn't much. In her eyes, the dragons were merely monsters and she would beat them time and again if she had to. But to Harle, they signified a life full of pain and nightmares, something she fought so hard for to escape from.

Kidd took a deep breath and tried to concentrate. If she were in Harle's place, if she had had to deal with these dragons her entire life, suffering so much from them, and if she were only be able to live normally with the knowledge that they were gone, what would she do? What would she do if confronted with a dragon again?

A few tears fled from her eyes as she realized the answer. "Suicide." She heard Eve's voice pronouncing that word slowly and carefully, with this cold and emotionless voice she had when she had first spoken to her. But no, the dragons having returned was impossible, and so was Harle committing suicide.

A faint sob escaped her lips, and her arms, with which she leaned on the tree in front of her, were shaking visibly. Eve uttered a gasp and stepped closer, only to be stopped by Kidd's hand waving in front of her, motioning for her to go away.

"We…we have ta hurry. Better get goin'.", she said quietly as she straightened up. With her free hand she wiped the tears from her eyes and soon began to ram the sword into the hard surface of the tree with full force. It didn't do so much as a scratch, but Kidd just continued vigorously, not minding the poor result each hit had. She had figured that a sword wouldn't work very well, it was no axe, after all. However, it had to suffice. She wouldn't let something stupid like that stop her from getting to Harle.

Eve watched her for a few moments, but then obeyed and walked deeper into the forest, trying her best not to worry too much about Kidd. She couldn't really relate to her feelings, but she understood how much it must hurt to not know if a dear person was still alive or not.

Suddenly, Eve felt that familiar pang of guilt again, something she had felt ever since she got to this island, chasing after Kidd. And also something she felt she had to get accustomed to.

But why was that? Why was she feeling guilty? She had only done her job, and she didn't even have terribly much to do with the happenings in Marbule. She had been on the ship the whole time, waiting for the soldiers to return from Marbule with their targets, Kidd and a girl named Harle. But still, something was wrong with that.

Viper had told them that they had stolen something very valuable from him, and had to be caught at all costs. He never told them what Kidd and Harle had stolen, though. And Eve couldn't even think of something worth so much to go so far as to drive the targets into committing suicide, with the help of a dragon no less.

The dragon…something was up with that. Eve told herself that she would have to speak to Viper about all that once she was back. She just had to know. Something had changed him, and it had to be related to the dragon, and that woman…

* * *

"Captain!", Jack yelled as he stormed into his cabin, yanking the door open. His face was red and excited and he seemed like he was about to burst at any moment. 

The captain looked up from his desk, only mildly startled. He knew of Jack's concern for Harle and it had been only a matter of time until he figured out what had to be done. Saying nothing, he just nodded to Jack, allowing him to speak.

"It's Viper! It must be, he's behind all this! Of course he knew we were heading for the places marked on the map, so he set up a trap!", Jack all but shouted, unable to contain himself.

"Thought that too. The question is, what will we do?", he asked calmly, trying not to be upset from the fact that this boy in front of him was repeatedly daring to shout at him. He didn't care about being called 'sir' or anything, and he didn't care if people liked or disliked him, agreed or disagreed with him, but he did care about his subordinates treating him with at least a modicum of respect.

"We have to go back to Marbule, no matter what. It's the only way of finding out what had happened there. Otherwise, we're completely in the dark.", Jack said eagerly, now a little calmer than before.

"No, that's just not possible. We can't go back ta Marbule and risk bein' overwhelmed by Viper's army. I'm responsible for all of yer sorry arses, and I know that Viper could easily wipe us out if he put half a mind ta it. He'll be expectin' us. And with Harle gone, we don't even know what else awaits us there.", the captain said, hoping Jack would understand. There had been too much trouble lately and he didn't want to argue with him about his decisions again. That boy was just too reckless. The captain smirked. It was one of Jack's good traits, too.

"But what then? We have to start somewhere and we don't have an idea where to look for Kidd. She's the only one who might know what's going on with Harle.", Jack said, growing desperate. He understood the captain, but there wasn't much they could do besides facing the danger that awaited them in Marbule. Jack sighed. He felt useless.

"We'll be headin' ta Porre.", the captain said firmly, placing one of the stolen maps onto his desk, motioning for Jack to take a look at it. Jack did, but couldn't help but frown at this decision.

"Why Porre?" He asked, deciding to disguise the many questions running through his mind as harmless curiosity. He didn't want to upset the captain any more with doubting his every decision. He did, but seeing how he wasn't on particularly good terms with the captain lately, he decided not to push his luck.

"It would have been our next target, if the mission on Marbule had been concluded without any trouble, that is. But even if we don't know where Kidd is, I know she'll go there. I'm confident that she freed herself of any trouble that might have occurred, and is headin' ta Porre right now. So we should, too. We don't have a bloody chance ta find her any other way, even if we searched all El Nido for her. Also, Viper's boys might not be prepared for us to strike so soon, and even if they are, Porre is too big and lively ta send a whole army there and get away with it. He wouldn't dare to start a full-scale fight with us.", the captain explained patiently, hoping that his decision was right. "So tell the others ta get ready ta head for Porre right away."

Jack listened carefully, trying to make up his mind. "I'm afraid we can't do that.", he said after much deliberation. The captain tensed slightly, trying to suppress the urge to kick this disrespecting boy out of his cabin. However, as he looked up to meet the boy's eyes, he saw a wide grin on his face.

"Our remaining supplies won't last until we reach Porre. We'll have to stop by Guldove and restock before we head to Porre. That's just my opinion though. If you're okay with letting half of the crew mutiny due to lack of food, I won't argue with you.", he said and chuckled as he saw the surprised expression on the captain's face.

Then, without another word, Jack turned to leave. He agreed with the captain's decision and tried to put as much hope into Kidd as everyone else did, hoping that everything would turn out fine, for all of them.

Just as he reached the door, he abruptly turned around and bowed deeply, facing the ground. "I apologize for being so rude today. I hope you won't hold a grudge against me, sir." With the last word, he looked up again and smirked.

"Just get outta here ya brat.", the captain shouted, but smiled as Jack left the cabin.

* * *

The water was cold and merciless. Her arms were already numb from the cold and with every wave that toppled above her head, it got harder and harder to reach the surface again. Harle took a deep breath and prepared for the impact of the next wave, which immediately came rushing towards her, threatening to drown her. As the wave crashed upon her head, she was yet again reminded of her growing tiredness, as she helplessly swirled through the water, trying her best not to lose focus on the directions. 

Suddenly, she felt this pressure in her ears, indicating she was already deep down, maybe a bit too deep this time.

"_So zis iz it…lately ze water has been challenging moi…isn't zat correct, Water Dragon?"_

Harle's eyes tried to follow that shape in front of her, which was too deep under the surface of the water to be bothered by the huge waves, which hadn't ceased yet. However, Harle's legs tried their best to push her upwards to refill her lungs with the oxygen they sorely lacked right now. With every passing second, she could feel her mind slipping into the grasp of unconsciousness a bit more, but she refused to let that happen just yet.

As she reached the surface at last, she took a deep breath and pushed onward without a second thought, putting all her remaining strength into it. Her entire body hurt from exhaustion, but she wasn't about to give up. Not yet.

"_Moi will not disappoint you…moi will prove mon strengt' to you…"_

Soon, the waves got smaller, until she finally felt the soft ground under her feet and managed to stand up. Her legs trembled as she walked towards the beach in front of her, and she fell down on her knees, shaking with pain. Crawling the remaining few metres, she finally managed to reach the beach and lied down on the dry sand, which was still untouched by the water.

"_Where angels lose their way…and where demons find it…"_


	7. What are friends for?

A/N- Yay for fast updates! Better don't get used to it, though XD Thanks again for your wonderful reviews, you know I probably wouldn't continue this without your constant support. Anyway, have fun reading.

Chapter 7 – What are friends for?

When Harle slowly opened her eyes, she found herself still lying on the beach, with the waves tickling her feet in a constant rhythm. She looked around wearily, finding nothing but soft, white sand surrounding her. The sun was red and just above the horizon, and judging from the eager chirping of the birds, it had to be morning.

"_Moi waz asleep très longue…"_

Harle tried to stand up, finding it surprisingly hard to do so. Her arms and legs burned and she felt weak. But above all, her body seemed unbelievably heavy, and as she looked down on herself she saw the reason why. Her long blue leather trousers was still wet and because of the thickness of the material, quite heavy. The rest of her clothes wasn't much better off, clinging heavily to her.

Harle didn't want to waste time with this, so she just took out one of her cards, ready to cut off the legs of her trousers, so that they would just reach halfway down to her knees.

However, just as she was about to cut it off, she remembered. She still remembered the day when Kidd had given her these clothes, which were a little worn out now, with a few cuts here and there. They had been in Termina at the time. The morning she had found these clothes in her room had also been the morning when she had first kissed Kidd. It wasn't one of her most precious memories, in fact that day had been quite disastrous. But the fact remained, these clothes were given to her from Kidd. A gift.

A few silent tears made their way down Harle's cheeks, as she regarded her clothes further. This was her only memory of Kidd, and also a reminder of her sin. A constant reminder for her to accept her fate, which was so inescapable in the end.

With that, Harle put the card away and straightened up, trying to remember where she was. She recalled someone talking to her, something about angels and demons. She couldn't quite remember it, though.

With slow but steady steps she made her way to a small path at the other side of the beach. It was familiar, but she couldn't remember it just yet. She didn't care, however.

After patiently following that path for quite some time, she could see a small village and people. A few children ran around, chasing each other, laughing merrily. As they spotted Harle, they eagerly ran towards her, wanting to greet the stranger. However, as they saw her red eyes, which gazed intently on them, they took a few steps back and ran away.

While running away, they almost bumped against a man, who gave them a worried look. As he spotted the cause of the children's fear, he slowly walked towards Harle, nodding at her.

"Hello, you must be new here. I have to apologize for these kids, they're pretty shy.", the man said, his azure eyes, which were just a little darker than Kidd's, meeting Harle's crimson ones. He stared at her for a while, obviously lost in thought. Harle hated to be stared at.

She broke the gaze first, turning away from him. However, just as she wanted to walk away, he gripped her arm firmly, halting her.

"Wait a moment…have we met before?", he asked curiously, but was surprised when Harle yanked her arm free, glaring at him in anger.

"_That's right…you shouldn't put up with these foolish humans…" _

It was this voice again. Harle hated it. Without another word, she went away, leaving the young man watching her in confusion.

"Serge, who was that girl?", a voice called from behind him, breaking his train of thought.

"Nothing, Leena. I just thought I know her…", he tried to explain, but trailed off.

* * *

"Do you…", Eve gulped, "do you really think this'll work?" She didn't even try to hide her fear, looking back and forth between the rough sea and the raft in front of them.

"Of course!", Kidd patted her on the back. "Trust me, this thing's gonna take us everywhere we want!"

Eve watched her intently, disturbed by the utter honesty in her eyes. She really believed in this thing. Eve looked down and kicked the raft feebly. At her feet lay eight to ten about three metre long logs, loosely tied together by some unknown plant, which could break anytime for everything she knew. On top of the "raft" lay two "paddles", which was actually not much more than one thick branch sliced in half.

It wasn't that bad, considering they had put it together within half a day, but still…after regarding it at daylight, she wasn't so sure about this anymore.

"I guess I'll just wait here for my comrades to pick me up. And if I'm still stuck here tomorrow, I could always swim.", Eve stated, eyeing the raft warily as if expecting it to fall apart just from her disapproving gaze.

"No way, you're my hostage, ya'll have ta go where I go.", Kidd said and grinned broadly, enjoying the thought of dragging that scaredy-cat with her.

"Now look here…", Eve said and kicked the raft firmly, causing the first two logs to fall off and roll away, "we're so going to die if we use that thing. Let's at least take more time and try to improve it. Make it more…stable."

"Aw, c'mom, the logs just fell off cuz ya kicked it. Gotta handle it with care…", Kidd answered and knelt down to fix the damage Eve's not-so-amused foot had caused.

"Handle it with care! What do you think those waves will be doing!", Eve shouted and pointed to the ocean, which was everything but calm. "What will you do if that thing breaks apart in the middle of the ocean? We'll drown."

"Nah, we won't. Well, ya might drown but I'll be there ta save ya. Just trust me.", Kidd said calmly, not bothered by the other woman's doubts at all. At least one of them had to be confident, or at least that was what Kidd kept telling herself. They didn't have much choice, anyway.

"Trust you? You have to admit, that's a pretty weird thing to say for a pirate. And asking for trust from a hostage no less.", Eve said laughingly.

"Well, if ya like it or not, we'll be going now.", Kidd said and leaned down to push the raft towards the ocean. It was stuck pretty deep in the sand, and she had some difficulties doing it alone. "Ya mind lendin' me a hand here?", Kidd asked in mock annoyance, turning to Eve.

Eve turned around and sighed. "I'm so going to regret this…", she said dramatically before kneeling down and trying to heave the raft out of a hole.

"Ya'll regret makin' friends with a pirate too. So who cares?", Kidd said and grinned.

Eve abruptly stopped and glared at Kidd. "Hey, who said we were friends?", she asked, but Kidd just chuckled in response and pushed even harder, lifting the raft out of the hole and forward until it reached the ocean.

"Whew, finally. Now where do we go?", Kidd asked innocently, looking back to Eve, who just stood there, dumbfounded.

"You mean you don't even know where we have to head to with this wreck?" She couldn't believe it. Either Kidd was just stupid or way too naïve. Probably both.

"Well, I do have an idea. Considerin' this is the Water Dragon Isle, we just need ta head north and ultimately reach Arni Village. IF this is the Water Dragon Isle, that is…" Kidd looked at Eve and shrugged, not doing much to make her feel any safer. And obviously not even trying to.

"Okay, I'll believe you this one time, but don't you dare to kill us with that thing!", Eve said and laughed, more at her own willingness to drown than anything else. She walked over to Kidd and helped her set the raft afloat.

"So north…", Kidd mumbled and looked at the sun, which rose just one or two hours ago. She pointed her finger at it and made a ninety degree turn to the left. "Let's just head there and see what happens." Then, with one last shove, the raft was afloat and both settled on it, trying to keep their balance.

"Yeah right…", Eve mumbled and grabbed one of the paddles. Then she took the dagger she had kept until now and began thinning one end of the paddle, trying to make it at least a bit more useful and manageable.

"That reminds me…ya can give me my dagger back now.", Kidd said, dealing with one of the paddles herself.

"Uh huh. And what's with my sword? You pretty much ruined it.", Eve answered, casting Kidd an angry look.

Kidd looked at the sword, noticing all the scratches and dents on it. She ran her finger tentatively along the blade but found it completely blunt. It was no wonder, though, seeing how she chopped down five trees with it.

"Well…I'll get ya a new one in Arni, until then ya can keep my dagger. Deal?", Kidd asked, looking at Eve with a smile. Eve nodded and both started paddling north, hoping they would reach Arni Village, or anything on the mainland, soon.

* * *

"If everything stays normal, we'll reach Guldove tomorrow afternoon, captain.", a sailor stated and saluted to the captain, who sat behind his desk, as usual.

"Good. Now go down and check if there are enough weapons left. If not, we'll have ta get some in Guldove."

"Right away.", the sailor answered and immediately left the cabin.

The captain looked over the maps and sighed. Things could get ugly in Porre and his men weren't really equipped for serious combat. Sure, they had their cannons and swords, but the army had shotguns and worse. The captain could see this go wrong in a hundred ways, but he just had to trust Kidd…again.

He scolded himself inwardly for relying so much on her. It had been always like this, if there was trouble, Kidd would deal with it. Thinking back, he didn't even know anymore how he had managed with her gone all this time.

Her spirit was like no one else's. Strong. Unbreakable. Not once in his life had he seen her give up on something. Of course, there had been times when she had lost hope, but eventually, she had always been able to regain it, all by herself. And that was what strength really was.

But Harle too. Even if she didn't possess the confidence Kidd had, he had to admit that she was quite strong as well. He had sent her only on a few missions alone thus far, but she had always completed them to his satisfaction, and style too. What a shame. The two only women on board making his men look like little girls.

With a grunt, he stood up and walked out of his cabin onto the deck. Looking around, he saw about six people actually working to keep the ship moving in the right direction, the other ten were just sitting around lazily.

"Oi, ya slackers!", he shouted, causing the sailors to stand up immediately.

"If ya got nothin' ta work, at least do somethin' useful!" He ordered, then sighed.

The pirates watched him with a look of confusion. This bunch was worse than he had expected.

"Clean the ship or train!", he yelled, walking towards one of his men. "Look at yerself! Do ya call that muscles? My old man would beat ya to a pulp!"

The captain looked around, seeing most of the pirates getting in motion, albeit slowly.

"Now hurry up or I'll kick yer sorry arses over board!", he yelled, wondering what had become of his crew.

* * *

Ever since she left Arni, there was nothing but thick forest surrounding her. Not that she minded, a forest was better than open plains. It had gotten quite hot these days, and the trees covered most of her path in shadows. She made her way slowly, having no need to rush at all. It made no difference if she reached it today or tomorrow, in a week or a month. Time was of no importance to her, anymore. But then, nothing was of any importance anymore. Her life had become useless. It made her laugh.

As she continued onward, she could sense monsters all around her, lurking in the shadows. Their eyes followed her every movement, greedily watching her. Judging from the rustling she could hear from the sides, there had to be at least six beasts, waiting for their chance to strike.

But Harle didn't care. They should come if they wished, she would crush every single one of them, until the last one was dead.

She took out a few cards, placing four in each hand, waiting for them to attack. It took them a while, but as she turned around, they came rushing towards her, roaring and snarling, their teeth clenched.

Harle leapt into the air, reached back and threw the eight cards all at once with full force. Closing her eyes, an evil smile formed on her lips as she safely landed back on the ground. However, as she opened her eyes again, she frowned.

Every single card had missed its target. A few stuck deep in a tree, others in the ground. Still, there was no sign of the monsters. She couldn't sense them anymore. They were gone.

"_They ran away…foolish beings. But you Harle, you understand, don't you? That there is no true escape…"_

Harle's eyes flared in anger as she collected her cards. She clenched her hands around them, not feeling the pain as the cut deep in her flesh. She wouldn't miss next time. She wouldn't let them escape again.

"Zere iz no true ezcape…", she repeated the words she had heard in her mind, acknowledging the truth in them.

She continued her path in rage, killing everything that caught her sight. Everything that couldn't escape fast enough. She didn't want them to escape, for she couldn't escape either. However, as she turned to her right to look for potential victims, she stared right into the eyes of the green dragon.

He was hiding behind several bushes, which made it a little hard to see him, but he couldn't escape Harle's senses. Harle just stood there, facing him, showing no sign of fear or surprise. She showed no emotion at all.

The dragon didn't react either, just standing there, watching Harle. He obviously wasn't here to kill her, otherwise he would have done so already. It wasn't like Harle stood any chance against him. But staring at him, Harle knew she wouldn't die just yet.

"_It iz juzt a tezt…he juzt wantz to watch moi, non?"_

Finally, she averted her eyes from the dragon, continuing her path undisturbed, her face still neutral and unimpressed. Soon, a large lake appeared before her, glimmering brightly in the sunlight.

Harle smiled contentedly, knowing she had almost reached her goal.

* * *

"Eve, look out!", Kidd cried and threw herself over the other woman, trying to hold onto the raft with all her strength. A wave washed over them, tugging at her, trying to drag her into the dark depths of the ocean.

However, Kidd wouldn't have it. They had merely started, she wasn't about to lose to the ocean just yet. She was a pirate after all.

After a few seconds, Kidd didn't feel the pressure of the water on her anymore, and dared to look up. It seemed like they and the raft too, had survived the huge wave. But for how much longer they would be able to, she didn't know.

"Everythin' okay?", Kidd asked, getting off Eve, who lay on the raft with her face down. When she didn't move, Kidd began to worry.

"Hey! Eve?", she asked, shaking her shoulders gently.

After a while, Kidd could hear faint sobs from the other woman, who still lay motionlessly.

"Hey, c'mon…Eve!", Kidd said a little louder now, turning the girl around. Her golden hair hung over her face, so Kidd couldn't see her eyes. Just as she wanted to brush the blond locks aside, two hands grabbed her firmly by the collar.

"You…", Eve hissed, shaking her head to get the hair out of her face, "It's all your fault! We're going to die out here!" Eve all but shouted, showing no sign of joking. She was upset, understandably so.

Kidd had some difficulties to remove Eve's choking hands from her collar, but eventually succeeded in doing so.

"Calm down Eve. We'll make it.", she said and smiled at her reassuringly.

However, Eve's reaction wasn't one she had expected. She just stared at Kidd, her mouth opening slightly before closing again. With a trembling hand, she pointed at something behind Kidd.

Kidd turned to see the cause of Eve's shock, freezing as well. There was another wave heading towards them. A huge one, at least twice as big as the last. It was coming closer at a rapid pace and Kidd had hardly time to think.

With one harsh shove, she sent Eve down again. But unlike before, Kidd stood up, knowing that simply holding tight to the raft wouldn't be enough to save them this time. She focused on the wave, don't even hearing Eve's shouts anymore.

Out of her pocket, she took a red element, placing it into her palm, while trying to keep her footing on the swaying raft.

"Fireball!", she shouted, just as the wave was about to hit them. A huge fireball emerged from her hands and flew towards the centre of the wave. Upon reaching it, the wave exploded into a storm of thick mist, engulfing the raft. Kidd had a hard time keeping her balance for a few seconds. She looked around feverishly, trying to see something through this mist.

After a few moments, the mist settled down and Kidd looked at Eve, who knelt on the raft, staring at her.

"That was just...great!", Eve said and stood up to hug Kidd fiercely, almost toppling her over.

Kidd just chuckled. "Yeah, I guess it was a bloody good idea."

It was sheer luck though, Kidd hadn't expected it to work so well. However, her stamina only allowed her to cast this element two or three times more, so she hoped that the waves would settle soon.

As Kidd sat down again, she looked around, but she wasn't able to see the mainland yet. But as she looked up to the sun right in front of her she saw the reason why.

"Damn!", she hissed and started to paddle wildly on her side, turning the raft so that their backs faced the sun. The last waves had obviously brought them off course and Kidd hoped they hadn't been paddling in the wrong direction for too long.

"Hey, Kidd…", Eve mumbled, looking across the ocean.

"Hm?", Kidd asked, not looking at her, still angry with herself for not paying attention earlier.

"Do you really think we'll make it?", Eve asked quietly, obviously worried.

"Of course!", Kidd snapped, now irritated. She didn't mind it at first, but Eve's doubts were bothering her greatly, especially as it had gotten harder and harder for her to believe in their success herself.

Eve looked at Kidd in surprise, but decided to say nothing, as it would probably only enrage her further.

"Sorry…", she apologized quietly, looking down, "I'm no help at all."

As she heard the sadness in Eve's voice, Kidd's features softened. She felt bad for having been so angry, it was only natural for Eve to be afraid under these circumstances. Hell, she was afraid herself!

"Stop that, it-", she held to the raft tightly as another wave brushed past them, "it's nothin' ta do with ya. Just hold out a little longer, okay?", she finished, smiling at Eve.

Eve just nodded quietly and paddled a bit stronger than before. The sea seemed a little calmer now and she hoped that those big waves were gone for good.

"Hey, isn't that…", Eve started and stood up abruptly, pointing at the horizon. There was the tip of a mountain to be seen and Eve had a hard time trying not to start jumping up and down in glee.

Kidd stood up as well and her jaw almost dropped in surprise. "Is that…Fort Dragonia? Never knew the way from the Water Dragon Isle ta the mainland was that short…", she said, trying to believe what she saw. Could it be? They only had been paddling for about seven hours, and they were almost there? Sounded too good to be true.

"We're saved!", Eve shouted, her fear and anxiety all but blown away.

Suddenly, the raft shook violently, even though no waves were to be seen. If it hadn't been for Kidd's saving hand, Eve would have fallen off the raft.

"Wha…what?", Kidd stuttered, looking around, finding nothing out of the ordinary. Still, the raft shook greatly, threatening to throw them off.

Then, a long blue tail appeared out of the water behind them. As Kidd turned around to face it, it was already too late. The tail hit her and whirled her through the air harshly. Eve was too slow to do anything, so she had to watch in shock how Kidd crashed into the water several metres away from her.

She sighed in relief as she saw that Kidd appeared on the surface on the water again. However, what she saw next made her heart stop with fear. Right before Kidd, the head of what seemed like a gigantic sea serpent appeared, its jaw wide open.

Kidd didn't waste time to react. She dove under water again, trying to get away from the monster, as futile as it seemed.

As the sea serpent realized its prey was trying to escape, it thrust down its head into the water, catching Kidd in it completely. Eve still watched the surface of the water in shock, not knowing what was going on beneath. She knew full well that she couldn't do anything. Even though she was yellow innate and had with her ElectroBolt and ThundaStorm elements a natural advantage against the beast, she couldn't cast as long as Kidd was still so close to him. It would kill her, if she was even still alive. She should have acted earlier…

It didn't look good. Kidd was caught in that massive jaw, and all her tries at escaping had been useless. The teeth of that monster were way too strong for her to simply break through, and she couldn't cast an element on them either, it would surely kill her. Also, it was too dark to see anything at all.

She had to think fast. The oxygen in her lungs was running out rapidly, and there was no hope that the beast would emerge from the water anytime soon.

Suddenly, the water around her quickly disappeared into the dragons' throat and Kidd tried hard not to slip and join it.

It was no use. With the way things were standing, Kidd would be fish food in no time. She just had to risk it.

She took out her Volcano and Fireball element and threw the Volcano one deep into the dragons' throat. Shortly after that, she cast the Fireball element, trying to hit the Volcano element and causing it to explode hopefully far away from her.

She was fully aware that this plan could easily kill her. After casting the Fireball, she saw it disappearing into its throat and hoped for the best. And no sooner than the wave of the explosion hit her, she knew it had worked.

Eve stared in awe as the dragons' head emerged from the water, opening its jaw to let out a giant breath of fire. Kidd was among it, literally flying out of his jaw and crashing into the water once again.

Now was her chance. She wanted to rescue Kidd but first she had to deal with this creature. She took out her ThundaStorm element, casting it.

Kidd swirled through the water, unable to move. Her body hurt too much from the burns and the impact, she couldn't prevent from sinking deeper and deeper into the ocean. She was about to slip into unconsciousness, when her body began to tickle all over. She opened her eyes and saw sparks of lightning leaping through the water, far away from her. She smiled at the sight of them, knowing what those sparks meant.

"_Nice idea…that'll kill that bloody bastard…"_

Her lungs began to hurt from the lack of oxygen, and the pressure on her ears was growing highly uncomfortable.

As she opened her eyes one last time, she saw a person before her. She reached out her arms, embracing her gently. She opened her mouth, but Kidd couldn't understand what she was saying, but it didn't bother her. Just seeing her was enough. Seeing her one last time. Harle…

Then, she felt being lifted up, the pressure from her ears was lessening and they finally reached the surface.

"Kidd? Kidd!", Eve shouted, despite being right in front of her.

Kidd opened her eyes slowly and saw Eve staring at her, obviously relieved.

"Eve?", she asked, frowning.

"Sure, who else?", Eve said and laughed, not really noticing the look Kidd had given her. She was just happy that she had made it in time, and that Kidd wasn't hurt by her element.

"Let's hurry and get back to the raft. Can you hold onto my shoulders?", Eve asked, already turning her back to her.

Kidd stared at her back for a few moments, then nodded and held tight to her friend as they made their way back to the raft, which was slowly drifting off course.

"Wait…", Kidd suddenly mumbled, pointing weakly at some kind of shell, which was drifting only a few metres away from them.

Eve didn't recognize it, but nevertheless swam towards it and picked it up. It looked like an ordinary shell, with the exception that it had every colour, depending on how the sun shone onto it.

Eve shrugged and brought Kidd and herself back to the raft. Kidd had already passed out by that time, so Eve simply lay her down and tried to get the raft in the right direction again. The mountain appeared even closer now, and Eve hoped that the rest of their trip would pass uneventfully.

"To think you were the one promising to save me…", Eve said and smiled at her fondly. "You're one reckless girl…"

A/N#2: Mah, still no Harle and Kidd...sucks I know XD But maybe next chapter?


	8. Strangers

A/N: The last day of my summer holidays, and I wasted it with this XD Geez, I know I took forever to update, and once again, I have no excuse other than being utterly lazy, especially during holidays. Still, I hope you'll enjoy this chapter and leave a review. Thanks!

**Chapter 8 – Strangers**

"Wh…what's goin' on?", Kidd asked drowsily, slowly opening her eyes. She was greeted with the sight of Eve's face hovering closely over her. She knew something was amiss, but her mind was too foggy to remember anything at the moment.

"Geez, took you long enough.", Eve said and laughed merrily, standing upright. Despite laughing, her face was one of great relief and Kidd instantly felt bad for worrying her.

"Eve…what…", Kidd started, feeling the need of an explanation. She finally looked around and found herself in an unfamiliar room. It didn't look too modern, everything seemed rather simple and was made out of wood, and it reminded her a little of Serge's home, who she didn't really want to think of right know.

Eve saw the confused expression on Kidd's face and smiled.

"You passed out shortly after we defeated that giant sea serpent. It took about three hours after that to reach the mainland. As for your raft…", Eve chuckled, even though she hadn't found it all that funny at that time, "most of the logs had fallen off on the way, so we basically made it by clinging onto one."

Her legs still hurt like hell from all the swimming, since she had had to use her arms to hold onto both the log and Kidd. If the mainland hadn't been so close already, Eve wondered if they would have survived this.

"Sorry for causing so much trouble, Eve." Even though Kidd was grinning ear to ear at hearing about her 'indestructible' raft, her apology was genuine and she was truly grateful that Eve had been there to save her.

"Trouble indeed, but that wasn't even the worst part. After we reached the shore, I had to drag you all the way to Arni, and boy, you're heavy. Surprisingly, when we entered the village, some blue-haired nice-guy came rushing towards me and showed me the way to this inn here. He seemed really concerned. I guess he knows you.", she explained.

"So we are finally in Arni…and that guy must be Serge…", Kidd said, disliking the fact that she should probably meet him to say thanks. "So…how long was I out?"

"Oh, you don't wanna know.", Eve answered and giggled.

"That long huh?", Kidd asked and rubbed her head. "So tell me, whaddaya still doin' here? Didn't ya have somewhere ta be, too?"

Eve looked at her, slightly offended. "Well excuse me for being a loyal hostage. I was worried.", she said and both started to laugh. "Maybe it would've been better if I had let you drown."

"No, no. Thanks a lot, I really owe ya somethin'." Kidd said and smiled mysteriously, already having something in mind. Glancing across the room, she found a Rainbow Shell lying on the desk to her right.

Eve noticed Kidd's curious look on the shell right away. "That's the shell you wanted me to get. Seems like the serpent left it. Looks nice, though I don't think it'll be useful. Do you want to keep it?", Eve asked, taking the shell into her hands.

Kidd just stared at her in utter disbelief, her eyes twitching slightly. "Ya serious! That's a Rainbow Shell! Girl, you're so lucky ta have it!", she all but shouted, then started to laugh brightly.

Eve looked at her warily, surprised by the sudden outburst. "So…what's a Rainbow Shell?", she asked hesitantly, unsure of how to react to Kidd's behaviour.

Eve's question just made Kidd laugh even harder now. Eve waited patiently for Kidd to calm down, regarding the shell in her hands. Could something like that really be of any value?

"Well, let's just go. I don't have much time ta waste.", Kidd said and leapt out of the bed, heading for the door.

"Hey, wait! Won't you tell me what's up with this shell?"

Kidd turned around, smiling at her. "Geez, I can't believe that Viper doesn't teach ya guys anythin'. Come on, I'll show ya.", she said, motioning for her to follow her outside.

After they had paid the owner of the inn, they went outside. With a frown Kidd realized that it had to be past noon already. Which meant that she had been unconscious for almost a whole day.

Kidd directly headed for the blacksmith, but turned to Eve just before entering the shop. "Just wait a moment here. I'll be right back.", Kidd said and smirked, snatching the Rainbow Shell swiftly out of Eve's hands. Eve looked surprised for a moment, but then shrugged, leaning against the wall.

With a satisfied smile, Kidd entered the shop.

* * *

Finally. She was finally here. Harle leaned against the humid and cold wall of the cave, breathing heavily. Coming all this way had exhausted her, but it was okay now. She was here. Now, everything there was to do was to wait. All her suffering would end here. She would die in peace, in this quiet, lonely cave. 

With slow, weak steps, she made her way to the back of the cave. Everything was pitch black, and she had to walk along the wall to reach the back. On her way, she almost stumbled into a pedestal, which reached up to her waist. She stopped in front of it, running her hand across its surface.

The Chrono Cross had been made here. The means to save the world. It was gone now. It didn't matter though, for the world was not at risk. At least not yet. It was certainly possible that the dragons might try to overthrow the humans again, but it wasn't her concern. Because the dragons would come after her first.

And why should she care about what happens to the world after that? After all, the most important thing wasn't even there anymore, and therefore, everything she had ever cared about.

Harle let go off the pedestal and sat down with her back to the wall of the cave. She hugged her knees and hung her head. A soft sigh escaped her mouth.

Maybe she should just kill herself and be done with it. It would spare her the waiting. But no, suicide would mean she was running away. That wouldn't do. Because she would never run away again in her entire life. And even if the dragons were to torture her for days, she would endure it. For she knew what awaited her afterward…

She would be able to see Kidd again.

* * *

It had already been over half an hour and Eve had long lost the fight against boredom. She was tapping her foot on the ground in annoyance, trying to keep herself from going inside the shop. 

"Just wait a moment.", she mimicked Kidd, trying to think of something to occupy herself with, for as long as this "moment" would last.

After what seemed to her like another half an hour, Kidd finally came out of the shop, grinning widely. She held a long and elegant sword in her right hand. It took Eve's breath away. The blade was shining in every colour and the hilt of the sword was richly decorated, with streaks of gold embedded into it. Her former sword, which she had, admittedly without much regret, lost to the ocean, would look like a piece of junk compared to this.

"Is…this?", Eve stuttered, casting a look towards Kidd's dagger, remembering that its blade looked the same.

"Yeah, it's the same as my dagger now. Ya know, if ya crush a Rainbow Shell and mix the powder with steel, it becomes much stronger. Or so the blacksmith said, I didn't really get it.", Kidd explained and smiled sheepishly. "Anyway, this thing's almost indestructible now, so don't hesitate ta chop a few trees down with it."

Eve laughed at the notion and took the Spectral Sword from Kidd's offering hands, regarding it in wonder. "Thanks, but I think I'll pass on that." She smirked at Kidd.

So this was it. They would be parting now, probably never seeing each other again. She tried to suppress the sadness she was feeling, but to no avail. She didn't know Kidd for long, but she already thought of her as a friend. Maybe even the best friend she ever had.

She ran her fingers along the blade and the hilt of her new sword. The Rainbow Shell aside, this sword must have been terribly expensive. But she didn't mention it, knowing that Kidd would just shrug it off. Nevertheless, she would treasure this sword, as a reminder for her friend, forever.

"Thank you so much.", Eve said and hugged Kidd tightly. Kidd was surprised at first, but returned the hug.

"Aw, it's nothin'. I owed ya a sword, and the Rainbow Shell was yers anyway.", Kidd whispered gently, rubbing Eve's back before letting go of her.

"No, thanks for everything you did for me.", she said after shaking her head. To Kidd's surprise, the smile on Eve's lips seemed forced, something Kidd hadn't seen on Eve before.

"All I did was drag ya inta a lotta trouble. But I guess it was kinda fun.", Kidd said, reaching out her hand. Eve took it and squeezed it gently.

"I have to leave now. I'm glad to have met you. Maybe I…shouldn't be saying this, but I hope we'll meet again…someday.", Eve's voice was shaking, and Kidd knew that she was trying hard not to cry.

"Sure we will. Ya know, if ya ever get sick of that stupid Viper, ya can always join us.", Kidd said and smirked, despite already knowing Eve's answer.

"Thanks, I will keep that in mind. Goodbye, Kidd. And good luck with whatever you will be doing." Eve gave her one last smile and then turned around, walking away from her.

"And look out for nasty pirates. Wouldn't want somethin' happenin' ta ya, mate.", Kidd called after her, laughing brightly.

"You know…with this sword, I'm gonna kick their arses so hard they'll kiss the moons." Eve answered and laughed too. However, she didn't turn around to meet Kidd's eyes, she was too afraid that she'd start crying.

Kidd looked surprised for a moment, but then chuckled.

"I'll better not get in her way, then.", she said to herself and smiled. She waited until Eve left the village and got out of sight, then turned around. For her, it was time to go as well. But before that, there was something to do first.

* * *

"We've reached Guldove, captain. As instructed, we dropped anchor about two miles away from the town. We'll send one rowing boat with three people to stock up on food and cannon balls, since there are only few left.", a sailor reported to the captain. 

"No, send two rowin' boats. I want four men ta look for Kidd or Harle throughout Guldove. This is the last stop before Porre, and we'd better find 'em now. Tell 'em they have time till tomorrow noon, then we'll be leavin' for Porre. We can't afford ta stay this close to a town for too long.", the captain said, failing to hide the desperation in his voice. The sailor however, didn't seem to notice it.

"I'll tell them right away." The sailor bowed and turned to leave.

Once he had left, a deep sigh escaped the captain's lips. With a worried look, he glanced over the maps in front of him once more.

"What have I done?", he mumbled to himself, hoping desperately that things wouldn't be as bad as he feared they'd be.

Right outside the door, Jack waited for the sailor, stopping him in his tracks.

"What did he tell you? I want to go to Guldove as well.", he asked, hoping to get a positive response from the sailor.

The sailor smiled at him sympathetically. He knew Jack wanted to go to Guldove badly, to find clues as to where Harle could be. Her sudden 'escape' weighed still heavily on him. However, it had been decided that the most muscular ones would be send to Guldove, since carrying cannon balls was hardly something for the likes of Jack. Of course he was quite angry about that, since nobody seemed to care about Harle's whereabouts.

"I may have some nice news for you.", the sailor started, smiling mysteriously, "The captain told me to send one more rowing boat with four people out, to look for Kidd and Harle. That's what you wanted to hear, right?"

Jack nodded fiercely, thanking the captain inwardly.

"You have time until tomorrow noon. You decide on who you'll be taking with you, I have hardly time for that. See ya." With that, the sailor was off, leaving Jack with a satisfied smile on his face.

* * *

Kidd stood in front of his door, contemplating about what to say to him, without sounding utterly stupid. She had made such a fool of herself the last time they had met, and she could do well without doing it again. But still, the right words didn't seem to come to her mind. How should she start? Coming to the point right away and risk being rude, or starting with a little small talk at the risk of wasting time? She just didn't know and the thought of this seeming like a preparation for a love confession made her mad. 

"Hi Kidd, how are you?", a voice asked just as Kidd was about to knock, causing her to spin around with a gasp.

"Oi…Serge, there you are! I've been lookin' for ya throughout the whole village! Good ta see ya again!", she exclaimed, more cheerfully than intended. It was actually a lie, she had come right to his house, but she hadn't been able to think of anything better to say.

"I was over at the bar. So, how are you feeling? I hope everything is alright, you looked really terrible yesterday."

"Gee thanks.", Kidd said and smiled.

"I didn't mean it like that.", Serge said and chuckled. "But what happened? Are you in trouble? Did something bad happen?", he asked, seeming genuinely concerned.

"No, nothin' like that.", Kidd answered quickly and laughed, in a way that actually screamed 'yes'.

"I was really surprised to see you, though. Haven't seen you in quite a while. It's kind of odd. Lately, it's as if Arni has become really popular.", Serge said and laughed cheerily, "So many familiar faces. Glenn and the other Devas came here just the other day, to investigate, they said. They couldn't tell me what they were investigating, though. Oh, and you wouldn't believe it, yesterday, I saw Harle. But now that I think of it, maybe it was just my imagination. What would she want here, anyway." Serge scratched the back of his head in thought.

"Harle was here! Really?", Kidd shouted in surprise, startling Serge.

"Y…yes. I think so.", he answered hesitantly, unsure how to take Kidd's reaction.

"Where did she go? Where!", Kidd shouted even louder now, "Tell me, Serge!"

Kidd had a hard time keeping herself from shaking Serge's shoulder. What he had said was so…unexpected. It put her heart at ease, but at the same time, she felt so incredibly impatient to finally get to know where she was. Harle…it had been such a long time…

"Calm down, calm down. Are you looking for her? Did she do anything? If so, then maybe I should accompany you. It'll be easier to catch her with two people."

'Catch her.' This was so wrong, Kidd thought grimly. But Serge seemed terribly honest while saying this. Kidd tried fiercely to resist the urge to knock him out right on the spot, telling herself over and over again that Serge couldn't know of them. That he couldn't know Harle as she was now. It was only natural for him to assume she would be up to something. Only natural.

"No…no. Listen, Serge. She didn't do anythin', really. She has changed a lot, ya know. As did I. A lot of things…happened. So please, just tell me where she went. This is…she is very important to me. I really need to find her." Kidd thought that she could as well tell the truth directly, it would be the fastest way out of this anyway.

Serge was speechless. Never had he heard Kidd speaking so gently and patiently, so full of emotion. It had to be right, then. Kidd had changed so much, he hardly recognized her anymore. The Kidd he knew was fearless and loud, fierce and hopelessly rude. Which didn't mean he liked her more or less the way she was now. It was just that she had become a stranger.

"I'm sorry, Kidd. I…I didn't know…", Serge stuttered, feeling himself blushing. However, Kidd just smiled at him in understanding.

"Anyway…Harle, if it really had been Harle…she went north-east from here.", he said as he pointed to the north-east exit of the village.

"North-east…the Hydra Marshes? There's nothing there, I don't think she would go there." Kidd's heart sank. Maybe it hadn't been Harle after all. Harle would try to get back to the Radical Dreamers, or maybe look for her. But the Hydra Marshes…

"Maybe she went…there instead of the Hydra Marshes. But again, there's not much there either.", Serge said thoughtfully, trying hard to recall any places where Harle could have gone to.

"There? Whaddaya mean?", Kidd asked curiously.

"The Divine Dragon Falls…", Serge mumbled, "it's the only other place in that direction aside from the Hydra Marshes. Maybe she went there."

Divine Dragon Falls. The irony. Kidd wondered if Harle really went there, but it would make a lot more sense than her going off to the Hydra Marshes.

"Thanks a lot, Serge! I'll go there right away.", Kidd said and stormed off, only to be halted by Serge.

"Wait a minute. Are you sure you want to go alone? You seem to be in trouble after all.", Serge asked, a worried look on his face.

"No, thanks, really. Once I find her, everythin' will be alright again. No need ta worry. Besides…", Kidd smirked and pointed to Leena, who had been watching them from a corner a few metres away the whole time, "I wouldn't want ta get into trouble with yer scary girlfriend."

Serge blushed at that comment, but had to smile nonetheless. He was glad that Kidd didn't seem to mind it anymore. He had been kind of worried after he had seen Kidd the last time, but it looked like everything turned out pretty well. He would have hated it if Kidd had held a grudge against him forever.

"Alright then. Take care of yourself and stop by every now and then." He patted her gently on her shoulder.

"I will, thanks. See ya." Kidd said and smiled. She shot one last glance at Leena and then dashed towards the exit of the village.

* * *

Eve looked around rather frustrated. She had already made it through Fossil Valley and it wouldn't be long until she reached Viper Mansion, but…she didn't exactly know what she was going to do there. 

Well, explaining what had happened and what she had been doing these last few days would be a good start, but she had absolutely no idea how to do that.

It wasn't like she could go and say something like: "Sorry sir, I let the captive escape and became friends with her. And I think that what you are doing is wrong."

Eve sighed. Well if that wasn't going to get her killed on the spot she didn't know what.

But honestly, she wondered what was up with Viper. Kidd and Harle had just stolen something, but going so far as to capture them at all costs, even if it meant they would die, was just wrong.

Now that she thought about it, she had never asked Kidd exactly what they had stolen and she hadn't seemed to have it in her possession at the time either. In fact, she was the one who seemed to know the least of all these things.

Maybe it had been just a set up? Maybe Viper had just told them that they had stolen something in order to give his soldiers a good reason to capture them. But in that case, wouldn't Kidd have wondered why they were after her? She seemed to have a good idea as to why they wanted to catch her.

But then there was this whole dragon thing. Kidd didn't seem to know anything about it, but Viper told them of the effect this would have on Harle.

Was it possible that Viper knew them personally? Knew their weaknesses? But if so, wouldn't there have been some other way to get the stolen things back?

Eve's head was spinning with dozens of questions she didn't know the answer for. She should really ask Viper about this whole affair, but at the same time be careful about what to say to him. She needed him to trust her, otherwise she wouldn't get the information she so badly needed to know.

She didn't mean to betray him…at least not yet. She would make up her mind after discovering the truth.

With steady steps, she continued her way towards Viper Mansion.

* * *

Kidd stood right in front of the waterfall, panting heavily. She had run all the way here without a break, her wish to see Harle again driving her onward. 

But now that she was here, she was almost frightened. Anxious to see Harle again. She couldn't quite describe her feelings, but somehow, she was afraid that the Harle she was about to see was different from before. She must have been through so much, regardless if the story about the dragon was true or not.

Her hands were shaking unwillingly as she washed her face with the cool water to calm down. She shouldn't be so nervous. She should be glad to be able to see her again.

Cautiously, Kidd entered the cave of the Divine Dragon Falls. It was dark and Kidd waited a few moments for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. After a while, she still wasn't able to see anything, so she picked up a wooden stick, which had been lying on the ground, and lit it with her Fireball element.

Now with better sight, she walked deeper into the cave. Everywhere around her, she could hear dripping noises and as she touched the wall, she found it completely wet. It was no wonder though, with the cave so close to a waterfall.

The noises were a bit unsettling and Kidd almost wished she had taken Serge with her. After all, he had been here before, while Kidd hadn't. She had no idea about what to expect here. Wild animals, cave monsters or even…dragons?

Kidd was sure there was a reason as to why the cave was named like this, although she didn't want to think of such things right now. She just wanted to find Harle and get out of this cave. At least she hoped that she would find Harle here.

Deeper inside the cave, there were various inscriptions on the walls, but she couldn't quite make out what they meant, they were too old to be fully deciphered.

As she continued walking while regarding the inscriptions, she stumbled into a pedestal and accidentally dropped her torch. She cursed under her breath and rubbed her knee.

However, just as she bent down to pick it up again, she stared into a pair of crimson eyes just a few metres in front of her.

Kidd froze in shock and needed a few moments to calm down and refrain from shouting. As she did, she took her torch and stood upright, slowly and warily walking closer to the person in front of her.

"I…is that you…Harle?", Kidd asked softly, her lips trembling. She hoped so much that it would be Harle, but at the same time feared that it would be someone, or something else.

When no answer came forth, Kidd took another few steps until she could see her whole face in the light of the torch. There was no doubt about it. It was Harle.

"Harle, what-", Kidd started, but stopped as she met Harle's eyes. She was staring at her, her eyes a mix of shock and sadness. Harle didn't move nor opened her mouth to answer. She just stared at Kidd, her eyes seeming so distant as if she was looking past Kidd.

Eventually, Kidd knelt down in front of her, bringing up her hand to Harle's face. However, just as she touched her cheek, Harle began to scream and pushed Kidd away with all her power.

While Kidd was still too surprised to do anything, Harle quickly stood up and walked backwards to put a distance between herself and Kidd. Her eyes were wide with horror, and her whole body was shaking with fear.

"Harle, what's wrong?", Kidd shouted, both scared and surprised of Harle's behaviour. She stood up again, walking towards Harle with her hand extended to her. However, her hand trembled with the fear of being so harshly rejected again.

Harle kept on screaming, shaking her head violently, while trying to keep the distance between them.

"Non, non! Go away!", Harle shouted, looking to the ground all the time. She didn't dare to look into Kidd's eyes. She was too afraid to look into them.

"No! What's wrong, Harle? Let's go together, c'mon!", Kidd shouted, her voice shaking. She couldn't believe what was happening and more importantly, she didn't know what to do. Just what was going on?

"Forgive moi…I killed you…", Harle whispered as streams of tears ran down her cheeks.

Kidd stopped abruptly and her extended arm fell limply to her side. She wasn't shocked, or scared…just surprised. Killed? What was Harle talking about?

Kidd was just about to ask her what she meant, when the realization hit her. She lifted her torch a bit in order to get a better view of Harle's face.

She wondered why she hadn't seen it at first. Her empty eyes, which seemed so worn out and weak, devoid of the spark they used to contain.

Her features, carving a steady look of fear and sadness onto her face, instead of the beautiful and content look Kidd was so used to see all the time. And also, her face was much paler than before, almost the way it had been when Harle was still wearing her make-up all the time.

The way Harle looked frightened her deeply. It wasn't a joke, or a misunderstanding. Harle was serious about what she had said. And the way she looked was the result of living with it for days.

Kidd tried her best not to cry. She couldn't believe it. Was she really the reason for this? Could someone really fall apart like that just because of her? Just because she loved her?

If it was really her fault, then what would have happened if she met her a few days later? Would she even be alive then? How could someone become like that just because of her!

A lone tear escaped her eye as she tried to walk closer to Harle. As expected, Harle was moving away also.

"Harle, I'm here. I'm here Harle, so don't walk away. You didn't kill me, I'm here." Kidd choked out. She could hardly bear looking at Harle like this.

"Non, go away! Leave moi alone!", Harle shouted, covering her ears.

It was no use. She couldn't talk to Harle like that, she wouldn't listen. She was already too far away for mere words.

With a few quick steps Kidd reached out and grabbed her arm, pulling the smaller girl into a tight embrace. She closed her eyes, enduring all the screaming and crying this had caused.

The screaming stopped after a few minutes, but her attempts to free herself from Kidd's hold lasted much longer. Kidd quietly endured it, knowing that she couldn't do anything until Harle calmed down.

"Calm down, Harle. I don't wanna hurt ya or somethin', I just want ya ta look at me.", Kidd whispered softly.

After a while, Harle slowly raised her head and looked into Kidd's eyes. Her mouth opened to form a "Forgive moi" but no sound came out.

With her best efforts, Kidd managed a smile and kissed Harle's forehead.

"There's nothin' ta forgive. I'm not dead, don't ya see?", Kidd whispered, looking at Harle expectantly.

Feeling that Harle wouldn't try to get away from her anymore, she released her and took her right hand into hers.

"Don't ya feel it?", she said softly as she placed Harle's hand over her heart, which was beating wildly with hope. "I'm right here with ya, Harle. Ya don't have ta be so scared."

Kidd stroked reassuringly over Harle's hair, patiently waiting for a reaction from the other girl.

Harle's hand was still where Kidd had placed it, but when it started trembling, Kidd allowed herself to hope. Soon, Harle's features softened and a small smile appeared on her lips, accompanied by a few tears trickling down her cheeks.

"K…Kidd?", she asked hesitantly, afraid that she might break the spell by saying her name.

Kidd's eyes lit up visibly and she nodded eagerly.

"Come here, silly.", she said and embraced Harle happily.

"Zey…zey said if moi runz away…zey would kill you…and moi…moi…", Harle desperately tried to explain but her sobbing prevented her from finishing.

"It's alright now, Harle.", Kidd said, smiling at her.

"Moi waz so scared…ze dragon…zey had ze Black Dragon. Moi didn't know what to do…"

So it was true? Were the dragons really back? It was impossible, but nothing other than the dragons would be able to scare Harle like that.

"…together, we'll make it. I'm sure. Even if the dragons are back, I'll protect ya, Harle. Trust me."

Kidd couldn't believe it just yet, but if she was honest with herself, she was just scared that it might be true. She didn't fear the dragons all that much, but the thought of them coming back over and over again frightened her. She didn't know how long Harle would be able to endure this steady threat of the dragons.

"Non, you have to run away, rapidement!" Harle's cry shook her out of her thoughts and she looked at Harle in bewilderment.

"Zey juzt want moi…zere iz no point in fighting zem. Save yourself, Kidd…zey will soon come here pour moi…"

"No! I won't leave ya alone. Even if they come all at once, there's no way I'll leave ya here. Come with me, if we leave now, they won't get us."

"Non, non…zey will always find moi…", Harle cried, pushing Kidd away from her, towards the exit of the cave.

"That's not true! We can make it, come with me, Harle." Kidd urged her and pulled at her arm.

However, Harle just dropped down on her knees, her mouth and eyes wide open.

"What is it, Harle?", Kidd asked worriedly.

It was those steps again, Harle could hear them clearly. They were slowly making their way towards the entrance of the cave.

"It'z too late…", Harle whispered as she looked at something behind Kidd.

"He iz here already."


	9. New goals

A/N: I don't have much to say this time, except thanking everyone who reads this and especially thanking Writers-Blade for kindly reviewing everytime. This chapter was a little harder to write than usual, but I hope it turned out well enough. Have fun reading!

Chapter 9 – New goals

"What!", Kidd shouted and spun around, ready to face whatever was awaiting her.

However, darkness was all that greeted her. There were no sounds to be heard except of the dripping water and Harle's hard breathing. She was sitting in the back corner again, with her hands over her eyes and her body shaking with fear.

Kidd walked forward cautiously and unsheathed her dagger. Listening closely, she tried to figure out the position of her opponent. But there was nothing to be heard. No footsteps, no breathing. Nothing.

By the time she reached the exit of the cave, she let out a deep sigh. Then she turned around and walked back to Harle.

"No one's here, Harle. Let's go, it'll be difficult if we have to fight in here.", she said, bending down to her.

However, Harle winced and shook her head. "Non, he iz here…we can't ezcape."

With a sigh, Kidd took Harle's hand and pulled her upright. She knew how hard this must be for Harle, but they had to get to a safe place and think about what to do, and this cave certainly wasn't a save place. It was too dark and narrow to fight and the dragon would probably just overrun them.

"He won't find us if we leave now. C'mon.", Kidd said and stroked Harle's hand softly.

Harle wanted to pull away at first, but Kidd held her hand firmly.

"Listen, Harle. As long as ya hold my hand, nothin' will happen ta ya, okay? I'll protect ya, I promise."

Harle just stared at her with teary eyes and nodded faintly. She wanted to trust Kidd's words. She really wanted to believe that she was safe with Kidd, that Kidd would protect her no matter what happened. She really wanted to.

Kidd just smiled and together, they made their way towards the exit of the cave.

* * *

"Did you find them?", Jack asked hopefully after meeting the three other sailors at their agreed meeting place, the bar in Guldove. 

"Nope, not a single trace. I guess they aren't here.", Gregory, the biggest of the other sailors, answered and shrugged. He could care less if they found them or not, this job wasn't really to his liking anyway. He was a pirate after all, and not some wannabe detective searching for lost kids.

It wasn't that he disliked Kidd or Harle, though. He just thought that they could take care of themselves and didn't need four men to waste time searching for them.

"No, you're just not searching carefully enough! They must be here, so get moving and find them, we just have time until tomorrow.", Jack ordered harshly, furious at the indifferent behaviour of his companions.

Gregory looked down on him sceptically, not really enjoying being ordered around by this youngster. However, he just grunted and left the bar, with the other two sailors following him.

"Useless bunch.", Jack mumbled angrily, setting down his glass loudly. The barkeeper shot him a disapproving glare, but Jack just shrugged. He honestly didn't care. Even if he was thrown out, what kind of difference would it make? His sole goal was to find Harle, and nothing else.

And even though he didn't want to admit it, he was clueless about where to look. He had basically asked every person on this isle about Harle and Kidd, but no one seemed to know them. He tried to tell himself that he just wasn't good at explaining, but that excuse wouldn't last until the next day, when they still wouldn't have found them.

With a sigh he got up from his stool, draining his glass before leaving the bar. The drink had made him slightly dizzy, but he could still walk.

Taking a few deep breaths of air outside of the bar, Jack continued his search. He intended to go to the Dragon Shrine, as most of the people in this village had advised him to. The woman there, Steena, supposedly knew about everything, especially concerning dragons. Harle was talking about dragons, and even though Jack didn't know anything about it, this woman just might know the answers to his questions.

* * *

"Do ya wanna rest? Ya look bloody tired.", Kidd asked, regarding Harle with worry. 

Harle was sweating and breathing hard, and Kidd didn't want to push her too much. With a glance ahead, Kidd saw that Arni Village wasn't far anymore. About twenty minutes maybe.

"Moi iz…fine.", Harle said with a weak smile, but failed to hide the truth. Her steps were slow and tired and her arms just hung limply to her sides.

"Aren't we energetic today?", Kidd asked and laughed, but stopped dead when Harle fell down on her knees.

"Harle!", Kidd all but shouted and knelt down to look at her.

Sweat was trickling onto the ground beneath her and her arms and legs were shaking, struggling to make her stand up again. Kidd bit her lip and silently extended her hand to pull her up.

Harle didn't notice it at first, trying to deal with the blur she was seeing. It made her dizzy and her head began to ache so much she wanted to scream. However, she didn't dare to, afraid that _they _could hear her. As she listened closely, she could even hear them, their steps following them from a distance.

They had to get away from here, and fast.

With a sudden jerk, Harle shot up again ran forward. They should waste time, they should get away…

However, her knees gave in soon and so she stumbled and fell to the ground after a few metres.

Kidd ran up to her, regarding her worriedly. She felt bad about having joked about her condition. She had just tried to make her laugh, but now it seemed as if the situation was far worse than she had expected.

"C'mon, lemme help ya.", Kidd said gently and helped Harle to stand up. Kidd tried hard not to show the concern she was feeling.

"Put yer arms around my neck.", she said, smiling sympathetically. Harle did as she said and Kidd lifted her up into her arms, using one arm to support her back and the other for the legs.

Despite the circumstances, Harle blushed faintly at the gesture and leaned her head onto Kidd's chest.

"…sorry.", she muttered apologetically. She hated to be such a burden to Kidd, but she couldn't do anything. She wondered why she was feeling so tired and empty…

"Don't worry about it. Actually, I've always wanted ta carry ya like this. Kinda romantic, don't ya think?", Kidd asked and laughed brightly, causing Harle to giggle.

"…je t'aime.", Harle whispered, but when Kidd looked at her she was already unconscious.

A frown appeared on Kidd's face as she thought about their current situation. She still wasn't sure about this whole dragon thing. She wanted to believe Harle, but at the same time, she had to see it with her own eyes to be able to fully believe it.

But no matter if it was true or not, she would make Viper pay for what she did to Harle…to them.

Kidd hadn't thought Viper would go that far. Get the maps back, if they were really that important to him, sure, but this was crazy.

However, this was one reason to find out what he was actually hiding in those places on the map. Maybe they were too slow and unprepared back there in Marbule, but they still had a chance for Porre and Guardia. The chances were good that Viper had his hands full with finding her and hadn't send troops to Porre yet.

As for Harle, if she believed what Eve had told her, then they thought Harle was dead, which they could use to their advantage. But regardless of what they were about to do about Viper, Harle's condition came first. If she didn't recover until tomorrow, then she had to think of an other plan, possibly invading Viper Manor directly.

It took her half an hour to finally reach Arni. It was already late into the night, so the streets were mostly deserted. She saw light through the window of the bar, but that was the last place she wanted to be right now.

So she made her way to the inn where she had slept the previous night as well. Just as she was about to open the door, she heard a loud voice.

"Leena! Where are you going? What's wrong?" Kidd instantly identified the voice as Serge's and tried hard to suppress a laugh.

She couldn't see much in the dark, but she heard Serge calling after Leena several times, obviously looking for her. Kidd shrugged and opened the door to the inn, trouble between Leena and Serge were thankfully not her concern.

"Hey Kidd!" Kidd shut the door again and turned around. It was Serge, catching for breath but smiling nonetheless.

"That her?", he asked cautiously, stepping closer to get a better view of the unconscious person in Kidd's arms.

"Yeah, just like ya said, she was at the Divine Dragon Falls. She was a little weak and fell unconscious, but I'm sure she'll be fine until tomorrow. Thanks a lot, Serge. For helping me.", Kidd said and bowed slightly. She was truly grateful to him, for without his help, she'd probably be walking through the Hydra Marshes right now.

"I didn't really do anything. It was just an idea and I could've been totally wrong as well. But I'm glad you got her back. You seem much happier already.", Serge said and smiled.

Kidd felt her cheeks redden considerably and was glad that it was dark. "Yeah, I really am. I don't know what I'd do without her."

Now it was Serge's turn to blush and he scratched the back of his head sheepishly.

"Glad to hear everything turned out alright. If you ever need help with anything, just say it.", Serge offered and smiled. "Anyway, I have to go and find Leena. She's been pretty upset lately, just don't ask me why."

"Good luck, mate. I'm not too sure, but I think I saw her goin' that way.", Kidd said and pointed to her right. Actually, she was pretty sure about Leena's whereabouts, she doubted anyone else would spy on them this late at night. Serge hadn't noticed her, but Kidd knew she had been watching the from afar during their whole conversation. Whether she was just being overly curious or jealous, Kidd didn't know. But she wasn't terribly interested either.

"Thanks, and good night.", Serge said and ran into the direction Kidd had indicated.

"Night.", Kidd mumbled and went inside the inn. After a short conversation with the owner of the inn, she went upstairs, laying Harle gently down on the bed.

Harle still had pearls of sweat on her forehead, and Kidd started to worry that she might have a fever. However, as she touched Harle's forehead, it was rather cold instead of hot.

Sitting down on the edge of the bed, she gently took Harle's hand into hers, hoping to diminish whatever nightmares planned to attack her.

She wasn't terribly sleepy herself, having rested more than enough the previous night, so she decided to watch over Harle instead. Her poor Harle, she must have gone through so much…if only she knew how to make her fears go away…

"Kidd…", Harle whispered, shaking Kidd out of her thoughts. Kidd looked at her, surprised to see her awake so soon.

"How are ya feelin'?", she asked softly, regarding the other girl with loving eyes.

"Much better…merci beaucoup.", Harle answered weakly. It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either. She felt better because the headache and dizziness was wearing off, but she still felt too weak to do much.

"That's good ta hear. I bet you'll be in top shape in the morning.", Kidd said and smiled, stroking Harle's hand.

"What…what about toi? Aren't you trés tired?", Harle asked, wondering how Kidd could still seem so full of energy when she had obviously carried her all the way to Arni.

"No, I slept so much last night. Well, actually I was unconscious, it's a pretty long story, I'll tell ya some other time. Anyway, I'm not tired, but you should get plenty of rest now."

"Won't you come here, anyway? S'il te plaît?", Harle asked hopefully.

"If ya don't mind…it's kinda small for two people.", Kidd said and pointed on the bed Harle was lying in.

"Moi doezn't mind…", she replied and managed a weak grin.

"Me neither." Kidd chuckled and took her boots off. Lying down on the bed, she rolled to the side and embraced Harle from behind, snaking her arms around the other girl's body.

A few minutes passed without either of the speaking. The silence was reassuring to both of them and for the first time in what felt like an eternity, Harle felt safe again. In these arms, which she had missed for far too long.

"Ya know…I missed ya a lot.", Kidd whispered, breaking the silence. Harle didn't say anything, but took Kidd's hands into hers, pressing them softly.

"When they told me ya died…I totally freaked out. I couldn't believe it, didn't want to…", she paused, suppressing the sobs that came with frightening ease, "I was so worried…I almost thought I'd lost ya forever. It was terrible…"

Harle could hear Kidd sniffling and she felt her slim form tremble against her back. However, as she opened her mouth to speak, no appropriate words came to mind. She felt bad, hearing Kidd so weak, but she was also glad. Glad to know that Kidd felt the same.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to…", Kidd said hastily and wiped away her tears, "I shouldn't break down like that, not when you're like this…" Kidd took a deep sigh to calm herself, but the tears just kept on pouring from her eyes.

"It's no good…", she sobbed, her voice cracking. She hated herself like that. She usually didn't cry, much less in front of Harle, but this moment…it felt so much like a dream she had yearned for so long, almost had given up hope upon…

"It'z okay for you to cry.", Harle finally whispered, turning around to meet Kidd's eyes. Her cheeks were still wet and Harle leaned in, kissing the tears away, one by one.

"Je t'aime.", she whispered faintly, barely audible.

"Love you too.", Kidd said and met Harle's lips in a gentle kiss.

Harle closed her eyes, savouring the sensation. After these last days, where she had gone through hell, this kiss meant so much more to her than ever before. It made her feel safe, loved…wanted. It made her feel glad to be alive.

When their lips parted again, Kidd smiled at her gratefully and hugged her tightly.

"Thank you.", Kidd said as she drew Harle even closer, "Thank you."

* * *

"Come in.", a rough voice called from inside the room right after she had knocked. 

Eve hesitated a moment, collecting her thoughts. She was aware that this conversation might end with her permanent dismissal or worse, but she was determined to get to know the truth.

She opened the door tentatively, spotting Viper behind his desk, as usual.

"Soldier Eve, reporting in.", she said loud and clearly while bowing and saluting to the man in front of her.

Viper scrutinized her, frowning. After a few moments, his face relaxed obviously.

"You're that missing soldier from the Longinus One, I take it?", he asked calmly.

"Yes, sir. I'm terribly sorry for this incident. I tried to follow…the target after she leapt off the ship.", Eve explained while bowing apologetically.

Viper nodded briefly. This was about the same as the other soldiers had told him about this case. "Inform me on what happened afterward."

"I…followed her until we reached a small island, which I don't know the name of. I tried to recapture her, but she turned out to be stronger than me and disarmed me. However, I managed to escape and came here directly." Small drops of sweat formed on Eve's forehead as she tried to explain the story without involving Kidd too much.

"You said she disarmed you, yet you have this impressive sword with you.", Viper stated, obviously requesting an explanation.

"I had to buy a new one to make sure I arrived here quickly and securely.", Eve answered, trying her best to keep her cool, all the while thinking about a way to take the conversation into the direction she wanted.

"I have to wonder what kind of thief the target is, leaving you with enough money to buy such an expensive weapon.", Viper said with an evil smile.

"I don't think the target is this kind of thief. As far as I'm informed, she didn't steal money or gold from the Treasure Vault while she was here. So I concluded that she just wanted to make sure I couldn't harm her. I don't think she is interested in mere money." Eve's voice trembled slightly as she said this. She knew Viper wanted to corner her with his questions, knew that he didn't believe everything she said.

"Do you think so? It almost sounds as if you know her pretty well.", Viper said and looked at her intently, awaiting her reaction.

"I don't, sir, and I am sorry if it sounded like that. However, concerning this incident, I'd like to mention the disregard of my situation by the whole crew on board. It would have been easy to follow us, yet they didn't show up to help me."

Actually, Eve was glad they hadn't shown up, otherwise she wouldn't have had the chance to get to know Kidd like this, but the fact remained that they didn't care about one of their own. And also, it served as the perfect distraction. Eve didn't know how long she would have been able to think of answers to Viper's questions.

"I fear I'm the one at fault for this. I did take note of your situation, the crew had informed me right away. However, I'm sorry to say that there had been more pressing matters at hand, for which I required immediate support of the Longinus One. But I'm glad to see that you are independent and strong enough to deal with these kinds of matters alone.", Viper said with a content smile.

Lies. Eve knew that he had to be lying. He was so intent on capturing Kidd and this other girl at all costs, and yet he said there had been more important things than helping her in doing exactly that? It almost made her laugh.

"Nevertheless, you seem quite exhausted, I suggest you rest in your quarter. I won't assign any missions to you for the next few days, so be sure to recuperate well. Good work."

Eve immediately knew that he didn't want her in this mission anymore. He obviously didn't want her to discover the truth, so he would keep her away under the pretence that she needed to rest. Eve didn't want that to happen no matter what. However, she recognized the clear dismissal in Viper's voice and knew better than to argue with him now. She would have to find an other way to get the information.

* * *

"Wake up, sleepy head.", Kidd whispered softly as she leaned in to kiss the girl next to her gently. 

Harle didn't move at first, but as Kidd continued to kiss her down her neck, a small smile appeared on her lips.

"So ya were awake after all.", Kidd said playfully and kissed her on the nose.

"Bon matin.", Harle said sleepily, her smile widening as she laid her arms around Kidd's neck. "Why, moi doezn't want to know what you do when moi iz really asleep."

Kidd giggled and brought her face closer to hers. "So you're sayin' ya don't appreciate my style of wakin' ya up? Maybe I should get a little more…drastic next time?"

"Drastic? How…", Harle paused, thinking for a moment. Then her face darkened and she looked at Kidd dangerously. "You wouldn't dare."

"Oi, I wouldn't? You're sayin'…I wouldn't dare ta wake ya like…this?", she said seductively as she slowly trailed her fingers all the way down Harle's stomach.

Harle's eyes widened as Kidd's hands reached the hem of her pants, slowly crawling underneath it.

"You're sayin' I wouldn't use the most drastic of means ta wake ya from yer beauty sleep?" A huge smirk appeared on her lips as she saw the scandalized look on Harle's face.

Harle opened her mouth to say something but stopped dead when she felt Kidd's hands clutching to her waist suddenly.

By the time she realized, it was already too late. Within seconds Harle was laughing brightly, squirming underneath Kidd, trying her best to escape her tickling.

"Non, non!", she shouted, laughing uncontrollably. It was almost too much for her. Between her laughs and giggles, she desperately gasped for air, only to laugh even more.

"Stop, s'il te plaît!", she finally begged, struggling to get free. She tried to pry Kidd hands away from her waist, but to no avail.

Eventually, Kidd released her and dropped on the bed beside Harle.

"I guess I should stick ta the other method after all. This one's too loud, we'd wake the whole ship.", Kidd said and chuckled.

Harle just glared at her, trying to catch her breath. "Meanie."

Kidd just laughed in response and smiled at her. "C'mon, ya loved it."

Harle smiled in return, cupping Kidd's cheek with her right hand. "Oui."

Indeed, Harle hadn't felt this good in a long time. After the previous night, laughing helped her a lot.

Before they had finally gone to sleep last night, they had told each other what had happened to them the previous days.

Harle had told Kidd about all her fears she had these last few days, Kidd's assumed death, the almost permanent presence of dragons, her attempted suicide…it had been too much for her. She hadn't been able to think clearly anymore as she wandered around without much of a goal, and as she looked back now, it seemed like a nightmare. But now, knowing that Kidd was here with her, she almost felt as if she could do it. Face the dragons again. Kill them. She would be able to do it. Maybe.

However, Kidd hadn't felt much better these previous days either. This time when she had almost lost her mind, the time she tried to kill Eve. Kidd knew that if she would have had to endure any more days without knowing if Harle was well, she surely would've lost her mind completely. She had felt bad ever since then, always wanted to apologize to Eve, to say more that she had said in the end. But after telling Harle everything, she had felt like a huge burden had been lifted off her shoulders.

Admittedly, it was odd. The way she had been over the last days, it almost scared Kidd. She had been so…unstable. Weird. Violent. Depressed.

But ever since having Harle by her side again, it started to get better fast. She almost felt like her old self again. Sure, there were still scars on her soul, and they wouldn't heal quickly, but she was sure, that someday, she would be able to forget about this ugly side of herself that showed itself because of the loss of Harle.

"Ya wanna eat breakfast? I'm starvin'.", Kidd asked, sitting up. Indeed, she hadn't eaten anything the whole last day, and not much the day before that, either.

"Moi aussi.", Harle answered and chuckled, getting up as well. With a disapproving look, she regarded her clothes, which she had slept in because she had been too tired to take them off. They were crumpled all over, just like Kidd's were as well.

As Kidd noticed the look on Harle's face, she began to laugh.

"Guess we'll have ta get back ta the ship soon, we look like beggars or somethin'."

"How…how do we get back to ze bateau? Do you know where it iz?", Harle asked as they went downstairs to the small restaurant which served breakfast as well.

"Ya mean ya don't know where it's at? Haven't ya seen 'em since Marbule?", she asked after she had ordered breakfast for the two of them.

"Moi did meet zem, mais…it'z trés difficile…", Harle stuttered, thinking about the best way to say this. "…moi left zem…it was so hard wit'out toi, Kidd…"

Kidd was surprised to see Harle so worried about this, but didn't want to press the matter. "It's okay, we'll find 'em in no time. I might even know where they are…"

They both took their plates and settled at a table near the window.

* * *

"Hey, where have you been all this time? Viper wouldn't tell us anything! I was worried." Clair, with whom Eve shared her quarter, asked sternly after stepping inside their room. Eve was lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling, apparently lost in thought. 

Clair sighed and sat down on her bed. "Hello? Anybody home?"

Eve stirred, then her eyes moved to see who was in front of her. "Oh, hi Clair. Don't you have duty today?"

"Well yes, but I switched with Timothy when I heard you were back. So tell me, where were you? I almost thought you'd never come back and Viper wouldn't let us send a search squad for you." Clair explained exasperatedly.

"Well, as you see, it wasn't necessary anyway.", Eve said calmly, but she glumly took note that Viper didn't want to help her. "You see, we had captured the target, but in the middle of the ocean she managed to escape."

Clair's jaw dropped open. "You mean, she jumped off the ship in the middle of the ocean? What kind of girl is that?"

Eve let out a small laugh. "You'd be surprised. Anyway, I followed her, if only to save her from drowning if she wouldn't make it to the nearest shore. But she was much more endurable than me, and she dealt with me pretty quickly once we reached the shore of a nearby island. I was rather surprised."

"What? She overpowered you of all people? I can't believe it, she must be one heck of a girl. But how come you're still here?", Clair was intrigued, to say the least. From the way Eve looked, there was much more to the story than she could imagine, and she was eager to find it out.

"Well, she was just as much as stuck on this island as I was, so we worked together to build a raft and with that, we reached Arni Village.", Eve explained.

Clair just looked at her dumbfounded. "Wait a minute, why do I feel like you left something out? Why did you work together? I mean, I'm sorry to say this, but…wouldn't someone like that normally kill you?"

"She's not that kind of person. We talked a lot while being together, and…I don't think she's evil. She surely had her reasons to steal something from Viper and if I'm honest, I don't know if I'm standing on the right side anymore."

"What are you talking about?", Clair almost shouted. She really liked Eve, but she couldn't understand what had gotten into her to be saying such things.

"I'm telling you this because I trust you, so please hear me out first." Eve watched Clair intently and was relieved to see her nod. "I know it sounds odd, but something's wrong here. Do you know how Viper didn't tell us anything about what had been stolen? And also, didn't you think that the means he took to capture the targets were too drastic? I heard the other one died because of suicide after the soldiers with the dragon tried to catch her."

Clair frowned, she had heard this too. Eve smiled, hoping that Clair would understand her. She was the only one Eve could entrust with this.

"And also, Viper didn't allow you or the Longinus One to come rescue me. The target had been that important to him at first, so why? It doesn't make sense.", Eve said, trying to think of a reason, but her efforts were in vain.

"Well, I'm not sure if it's true, but I heard that after the news of the first target came in, Viper was already about to call the Longinus One back. And after he finally did, the ship has been packed with enough food for at least three weeks with a full crew. And also, I heard they have been transporting all kinds of weapons onto the ship up until today, and will be heading out for Porre by tomorrow." Clair almost whispered by now, afraid that they might be overheard by someone. Even though the door was closed, the walls were pretty thin.

"Porre? What would they be doing there? And why the Longinus One? It's not the worst ship, but we certainly have better ones to…fight with." Eve grumbled, not liking the idea that Viper was out to fight.

"I'm sorry, I don't know any more than that. I can see now why you're so suspicious of Viper, though. Maybe we really should try to find out something about this whole thing.", Clair mumbled thoughtfully.

"Thanks, really.", Eve said and smiled at her gratefully.

* * *

"So that's the plan. Got it?", Kidd whispered while looking around the corner. 

"Oui." Harle nodded, also looking around the corner. She saw an old man sitting on the gangplank. He held a fishing pole, but appeared to have fallen asleep.

Kidd nodded and made her way past the old man, trying to tread quietly. After she reached the end of the gangplank and stood beside the small sailing boat, she motioned for Harle to follow her. While Harle did as she was told, walking without a single sound, Kidd carefully entered the sailing boat, quietly preparing the sails.

However, just as she was about to open it, a sudden gust of wind blew against the half-ready sail, causing it to snap open.

"Hey, what are you doing there?", the old man, who'd awakened by the noise, shouted at Kidd.

Kidd stared at him in surprise, but saw that Harle was standing directly behind him.

"Quickly!", she shouted. Harle nodded and with a firm shove with her foot, she sent the old man into the water with a splash. Having no time to waste, she ran for the sailing boat which already began to distance itself from the gangplank.

Harle jumped after it, and with Kidd's helping hand, managed to get on board.

"Stop right there!", the man shouted, struggling in the water.

"Sorry, we're just borrowing it!", Kidd called and laughed brightly. Soon, they got out of sight and Harle let out a relieved sigh.

"Boy, he bloody scared me when he shouted so suddenly.", Kidd said and chuckled.

"Moi aussi." Harle smiled at Kidd warmly. "Now on to Guldove?"

"Yep."

A/N#2: Boy, I missed Harle and Kidd being together, didn't you too? XD


	10. Off to Porre

Chapter 10 – Off to Porre

Eve looked around the corner cautiously, checking for any soldiers. Even though it was only early evening, the corridor with Viper's office was always closely guarded, especially since the break-in some time ago.

She had already passed one soldier right after the stairs, but he was out of sight already. Eve was glad that she didn't need any special permission to see Viper, even though she was only a low-rank soldier. So the soldier earlier had merely greeted her and let her pass without questions. As far as she knew, there were two guards in the corridors close to the office, one of them was behind her at the stairs, and the other one was hopefully taken care of by Clair. She had promised she could distract him for at least ten minutes, and Eve believed her. Clair's talking skills could be quite impressive sometimes. She had to make sure that the soldiers didn't get the idea of walking too far into Eve's direction.

With another quick glance to her right and left, she walked around the corner and towards the door of the office. She walked on tiptoes, careful not to make any noise. Leaning as close to the door as possible without touching it, she listened to the voice inside.

It seemed that Viper was alone, talking to someone over a communicator. He sounded quite excited. Eve carefully pressed her ears against the door.

"Yes, that's right. Yes. Yes." Eve could hear a sharp intake of breath. "No, tomorrow morning, as early as possible! I don't care if some of the spare parts are missing! No, the co-navigator either! Just prepare it to leave before daybreak tomorrow!" Viper was shouting now, audibly stomping around his office.

Eve quickly took a few steps back as she heard Viper getting closer to the door. She held her breath, preparing her face for the moment Viper would open the door.

Her heart was beating fast. Of course, she could always come up with an excuse to speak to him, but Viper was already suspicious enough of her and would certainly find a way to seriously keep her out of things if he really wanted to.

She gulped as she heard him standing right in front of the door, and already opened her mouth to say something, but the steps grew quieter as Viper went back to his desk.

Eve exhaled deeply, thanking god for whatever had made him walk away from the door.

"Eve?", a sudden voice asked.

Eve turned around with a gasp, looking at the soldier down the corridor. She walked over to him to prevent him to get any closer to the door. If Viper were to hear that she was outside, it would be over.

Quickly she scooted over to the soldier, basically blocking his way.

"Uh…hi, Randal.", she started, unsure about what to do. Randal wasn't the brightest of people, but he certainly wondered what she was doing here. "What are you doing here?" Eve thought she might as well ask this question first.

"I'm here to speak to Viper. He assigned me to the new Porre mission, so I wanted to ask him about the time we'll be leaving."

"Oh, the Porre mission…", Eve mumbled, thinking hard. "I wouldn't go there just now.", she said and pointed to Viper's office. "I just talked to him, and boy, he's not in a very pleasant mood. Last thing he needs now are people asking him questions." Eve put on a sympathetic face.

She wasn't even lying, she could just imagine Viper going up the walls after five soldiers asking him when they would leave. But first and foremost she had to make sure Randal wouldn't talk to Viper. The last thing she needed was him telling Viper about having seen her in the corridor.

Randal sighed. "Well, I better come again later then. Bye." He turned around and started to leave.

Not good. If he came here later, he could tell Viper about her. Then everything she just said to him would be in vain.

"Wait!", Eve called suddenly, a little too loud, and regretted it immediately. What would she tell him? Randal stopped and turned around to her, a curious look on his face.

"Eh…uh…if you only came here wanting to ask for the time, he said everyone should be there before dawn. Could you tell the others?" Nice one. Now he didn't need to talk to Viper anymore. Eve smiled inwardly.

"Yeah sure, thanks. I'm sorry you had to go and ask this stuff when he's so pissed.", Randal genuinely apologized. It almost made her feel bad to see that he was so trusting.

"But how do you know about the times? I didn't know you were on this mission too. Didn't you just came back from one?", Randal asked curiously.

Damn, so he wasn't that dumb after all. Why did he have to ask this? Eve tried hard to resist the urge to smack him. Instead, she looked to the side, thinking of a good reason.

"Well, you see…I messed up my last mission and even though Viper didn't say it, he was quite displeased with me.", she looked to the ground as if ashamed. "So I wanted to do this mission to make up for it. At first he was angry, but he agreed! Ha ha, I guess I'm just lucky." She said and laughed, scratching her head sheepishly.

"That was nice of him. I guess he knows that you're a good soldier, even though you messed up.", Randal said and smiled gently. "Well, see you later then, I guess."

"Yeah…I guess.", Eve mumbled as Randal turned to leave.

Once Randal had gotten out of sight, Eve turned around and sneaked past the office and back down the stairs where she had come from.

She had gathered some information, which meant it had been a success. Now she knew that the ship would be departing the next day before dawn, and also, that she would be on board.

Walking back to her room, she wondered if she could do this. She hardly knew anything about this mission aside from the fact that the ship was heading for Porre. But she couldn't turn back now. Randal would start asking questions if she wasn't on board tomorrow. Damn, what had she gotten herself into? She didn't even know what she was supposed to do on the ship and sooner or later, it would become obvious.

She wished she had squeezed more details out of Randal, but that would have made him suspicious. She still couldn't believe that he had been so easy to deceive. Too easy.

With a sigh, Eve sat down on her bed. She had to do this or otherwise, she'll never learn the truth. But at the same time, she asked herself if it would have been better if she hadn't been so curious, so eager to find out about things which weren't really her concern…

"Big score!", Clair called happily as she entered their room, giving Eve the thumbs up.

She sat down beside Eve, grinning from ear to ear. "Boy, that soldier was like butter in my hands, are all newcomers like that?", she asked and giggled, not really noticing the worried look on Eve's face.

"Anyway, he was pretty talkative too. He told me his older brother, Jerry or something, would be on the ship tomorrow. He would be in charge of the dragon. Can you believe that? First they're dragging that thing to Marbule and now even to Porre? What the hell are they up to?", Clair asked thoughtfully.

"The dragon, huh? Does that mean…that both of the targets are still alive? Didn't they say one of them died? Or maybe…they need it for something else…" Eve didn't understand, but she was gradually getting used to not understanding anything anymore.

"God, this is making me mad. It seems like we're the only ones not getting to know anything. They don't tell us about the targets, the dragon, the ship to Porre, anything!" Clair said, walking back and forth in their room. "Geez. Anyway, what did you do?"

Eve sighed, lying down. "I got myself into a lot of trouble."

Clair looked at her worriedly. "What, did you get caught?"

"No, it's worse. I'll be on the ship tomorrow.", Eve explained while shaking her head.

"And…isn't that good news? How did you manage anyway?", Clair inquired.

"Randal surprised me. He wanted to talk to Viper, asking him when they would leave for Porre. But after seeing me, I couldn't let him. I overheard Viper saying that the ship would depart tomorrow before dawn, so I told him. Of course he was curious why I knew these things and I couldn't come up with a better lie than saying that I was on this mission too. And somehow he even believed me, just don't ask me why." Eve closed her eyes, worrying about all the ways this could go wrong. Maybe Viper had heard her after all, or maybe Randal was the one deceiving her the whole time…or maybe she was just being paranoid.

"But that's great!", Clair exclaimed, clapping her hands together.

Eve opened her eyes again and frowned at her friend. "You're kidding, right? I know it sounds like a good plan, but honestly, I don't know anything about this mission and if they find out about me they'll throw me over board…or feed me to the dragon. I'll be alone on this ship, I can't do much. Even if I found out about whatever sinister plan they may be plotting, I'll be stuck on this ship."

Eve had grown even more worried as she said this. She hadn't really thought about it before, but now it hit her like a lightning. She couldn't do anything.

She could find out about the truth, maybe, but in the end, she still wouldn't be able to do anything.

"Now you're kidding right? You don't honestly believe I'll let you go alone?" A smile spread across Clair's face as she said this. Sometimes she found it extremely cute when Eve tried to deal with every problem alone, never even thinking about involving her friends, but at other times it really bothered her to know that Eve might not trust her enough to depend on her at times like this.

"But Clair, you…" Eve couldn't find the right words. "Look, we can't just both go on board without anyone noticing that we don't belong there, and also…I just dragged you into this, I don't want to imagine what they'll do to us once they find out…"

"So what? If we're together, we'll just kick their butts.", Clair said and shrugged. Of course, she was worried as well, but she refused to make a fuss like Eve. They had started this, and they were going to finish it as well.

"You make it sound so easy. What will we do if we actually find out something? What will we do if we find out we're on the wrong side?", Eve asked, now freely expressing her worries.

"Then we'll stop them. I don't know how, yet. But we'll definitely stop them.", Clair answered without thinking. At first she had been the one having doubts and fears, but after all she had heard by now, she couldn't turn her back on it anymore. She had to find out, and if it'd turn out that Viper wasn't what he pretended to be, then she had been a soldier of his troops for the longest time.

"You really mean it, don't you?", Eve said, looking up at Clair.

"Absolutely."

* * *

"Kidd! Ze wind! It'z trés…strong!", Harle gulped and shouted, trying her best to keep the ship on course. Kidd had insisted on taking the shortest way to Guldove instead of playing safe by sailing along the coast. She wanted to get to Porre as soon as possible, to see what's going on before Viper will be there. If he even planned to go there, which was very likely. 

Of course, Harle was interested too, but she was a lot more afraid of what might be waiting for them in Porre. Part of her didn't want to have anything to do with Viper anymore, she just wanted to be with Kidd, without having to fear for her life. But the other part…wanted to know about the dragons, wanted to know the truth. Since Kidd had been by her side, she didn't hear them as often anymore. But she still knew they had to be watching them.

"What is it?", Kidd asked sleepily, walking up from the small room below the deck to see what Harle was doing. She had been sleeping in the small room under the deck until now, so that they could take turns in sailing towards Guldove without a break, and eventually to Porre. Kidd wanted to stop at Guldove to get some food, the way to Porre would take quite some time with this ship.

It was almost midnight and she could hardly see anything aside from the tops of the raging waves glittering in the moonlight. The wind was indeed pretty strong, but Kidd was confident that the ship could manage this much. It was only about eight metres long and only had one sail, but Kidd had travelled with these kinds of small sailing ships quite often before, so she knew its limits. Or at least she liked to think so.

"Ze wavez!", Harle shouted in dismay as another wave hit their small sailing ship, causing it to sway strongly. Harle had to hold tight to the steering wheel in order not to fall off.

"Careful.", Kidd said as she slowly made her way towards Harle, trying to keep her balance. Standing behind her, she held her in place as she helped her holding the steering wheel straight.

Harle winced with every wave that hit the ship, hoping that this ferocious storm would be over soon.

"Ya can go inside, if ya want. I'll take care of our course.", Kidd said reassuringly but to her surprise, Harle shook her head.

"It'z okay…moi wouldn't be able to sleep anywayz.", Harle answered worriedly.

"Maybe you were right, we shouldn't rush like this. What do ya think, we'll lower the sail and drop anchor till the storm's over?", Kidd suggested even though she didn't like the idea all that much. Sure, it was hard to sail through a storm like this, and dangerous too, but time was of the essence.

"No way.", Harle said and gripped the steering wheel tighter. This was important. She shouldn't whine like this, after all, Kidd was with her. And Kidd said everything was alright.

Until the storm would pass and the first rays of the morning sun reach her face, she would stand here, trying to force her way towards Guldove.

And also, she wasn't alone.

* * *

"No! We have to turn back!", Jack yelled through the rain, still looking back to where Guldove had been in sight several hours ago. He couldn't take it, he just couldn't. He had been so sure he would find her in Guldove…but now they were on their way to Porre. At first he had trusted the captain's decision to go there, but with every passing day he worried more about her. He began to lose the hope of finding her there. The way she had just jumped off the ship…it had shown that she didn't care about them, or the maps. 

"Would ya stop it already?", the captain asked irritated. This boy was starting to annoy him. He had been shouting ever since they had left Guldove in the afternoon. Now it was well after midnight and he still hadn't stopped.

"But don't you see! What are we going to do without her? We can't leave her alone!", he continued shouting.

"Stop bein' so selfish ya bloody baby!", the captain roared, fed up with Jack's attitude. "Ya pretend ta be worried 'bout Harle, but ya never thought 'bout Kidd once, even though we haven't heard a bloody word from her ever since!", the captain made a movement as if attempting to slap the young man, but thought better of it turned his back to him.

"But she may be with her! If they weren't in Guldove, we should have looked somewhere else! Arni Village, Termina, Marbule! They have to be somewhere!", Jack said, unimpressed by the captains behaviour.

"Ya bloody idiot! We're pirates, if ya don't know that already. We can't just snoop around El Nido without bein' discovered by those bloody soldiers sooner or later! We're goin' ta Porre, and if ya can't bear that, then get yer bloody arse off ma ship and swim yer way home!", the captain yelled, trying to calm himself with little success.

"We'll have ta go there ta find out what's goin' on with Viper. There must be somethin' at the places he marked on the maps. We'll just need ta see what.", he explained after taking a deep breath. "Now get in or you're gettin' a cold. Last thing I need is a sick soldier when the big fight begins."

Jack didn't like the sound of that one bit. He wasn't a very skilled fighter and he didn't give a damn about the places on the maps. He just wanted to see her again, know that she was safe.

"You comin' or what?", the captain asked, looking at Jack. He almost felt pity for him, but he too was worried. The only difference was that he didn't lose his mind and started wailing about their loss all the time.

There was still hope. Once they met Viper, they would know. And if it really turned out that Kidd and Harle were dead, then hewould haveall the more reason to crush him.

* * *

"Hey, wake up already!", Clair said urgently and shook Eve's shoulder. 

Eve just grunted and turned around, mumbling incoherently.

"Now c'mon! If we don't hurry, the others will be there before us!" 'And it would be just like you to blame me for it.', she added inwardly.

"Just a few minutes…", Eve mumbled, tugging the blanket closer around her. How typical. Sometimes Clair wondered why Eve had chosen to be a soldier, when she was such a late sleeper.

With a smirk, Clair leaned down to her ear, whispering. "You don't want me to…kiss you awake, do you?"

With a start, Eve sat up, looking at Clair in a mix of shock and disbelief. Clair just laughed at the sight.

"Hey, it worked.", Clair said and chuckled, turning her back to Eve as she started packing her things.

"You and your jokes…", Eve grunted as she stood up, rubbing her eyes.

"Yeah, yeah. Now hurry up or we'll be late.", Clair said, still smiling at how easy was to upset her roommate.

Eve quickly collected her clothes and went into the neighbouring room to change. Meanwhile, Clair chose a few elements she wanted to take with her, as well as her weapon of choice, a long rod. Of course, as a Viper soldier, her regular weapon was a sword, but whenever she wasn't on duty, she took her rod with her. It was made of mahogany, not the kind of weapon anyone could just buy somewhere in El Nido. The middle was wrapped in white leather and the ends had golden caps on them. It had been a present for her sixth birthday. Of course it had been far too large and heavy for her back then, but she had trained everyday and now there was no weapon she could handle more precisely and effectively as this one.

"Don't tell me you're taking that with you.", Eve said as she re-entered the room, now dressed in her uniform.

"Of course, what did you think?", Clair asked as she strapped the rod in question on her back.

"That'll be too suspicious. You know Viper only allows us to fight with swords.", Eve said, already imagining the consequences this could have.

"Don't worry, I'll take that too.", Clair said and smirked, as she slid her sword into the sheath at her hip. "Honestly, why are you so worried? It's not like somebody's going to see it. Once were on, I'll hide it in our room."

"You're probably right…", Eve mumbled, starting to pack her own things. It wasn't much, only the most essential of things. A few elements, a knife, a bottle of water, a few metres of rope. The basic stuff.

"You ready? We have to hurry, we only have three hours before dawn." Clair called, already opening the door.

"Yeah, yeah…", Eve said, walking over to her. After one last glance at their shared room, they closed the door and were on the way to Termina, where the Longinus One laid. They left the Manor by climbing over the wall, because by going through the main entrance, the would've had to answer all kinds of questions. They would have been able to get out, but if something were to happen, the others would know it was them.

The wall was no match for them, they had climbed over walls a thousand times in their training before. The more difficult part was to run all the way to Porre. They couldn't risk being too late. Their plan would only work if they were the first ones on board.

"Come on, Clair. A little faster!", Eve called breathlessly, running a few metres in front of Clair.

"Look…look who's talking! You were the one not waking up!", Clair shot back, gasping for breath. Now she started to regret taking her heavy rod with her. And if she wouldn't be so damn sure that she'll need it some time or another, she would just throw it away about now.

They both were extremely grateful as they dashed through the shortcut in the mountains. Taking the normal route to Termina would take at least four hours, so Viper had ordered to make a shortcut, so his soldiers could get to the ships faster in case of an emergency. However, with all the money he had spent on building that shortcut, Eve wondered why he hadn't just built a harbour of his own.

'Would've been so much easier.', Eve thought grimly as she ran through the short cave.

Clair still had trouble keeping up, but pushed herself onward in order not to be a burden for her friend. She'd always known that she couldn't keep up with Eve in terms of durability and strength, but it was times like this that it really showed. And hurt.

"We're almost there!", Eve shouted in front of her.

However, these words didn't do anything to encourage her until she would have actually set foot in Termina about twenty minutes later.

Even though Termina had gone through big changes over the last years and had considerably grown bigger, it still lacked any form of nightlife as much as Arni Village did. Not that Eve or Clair minded. The less people walking around, the better.

"Good, the others aren't here yet.", Eve said with a considerable amount of relief as she stood at the top of the stairs. The docks were lower than the rest of the town, so they had a perfect overview from here.

"There are still guards, though. And also a few people loading stuff onto the ship.", Clair pointed out, trying to make out the total of people down at the docks.

"Four, five…seven. Anyone I missed?", Eve asked as she started to count anew, just to make sure.

"Don't think so.", Clair answered. "But what will we do about these two guys?" She pointed towards two guards which she recognized also belonged to Viper. Their job was to make sure no unclassified people got on board. Clair wished they could just knock them out, but that would make the following troops suspicious.

Eve regarded them for a while, trying to make out their routine. The one closer to the ship walked in small circles in front of the gangplank, which lead to the Longinus One. The other one walked from left to right about ten metres away, to scan a wider area. Every now and then he looked behind some corners, where his view was blocked by big wooden boxes ready to be transported on one of the ships at the docks.

"The first one will be easy to avoid, but the second…", Eve said thoughtfully. "The wood is too loud, there's no way we could sneak past him."

"Maybe we're lucky and he's deaf?", Clair asked after a few minutes.

"Clair, please…", Eve groaned, not even looking at her. It didn't look good for them. It was too quiet to just sneak past the guards. Now she secretly wished for more of nightlife in Termina after all.

"Do you have something to throw?", Clair asked again, undisturbed by her friends behaviour.

"No, Clair. Distracting him with a stone won't work. He'll still hear us, even if he is a few metres away.", Eve answered with a sigh. She had thought of this before, but with the gangplank creaking as much as they usually did, the guard would hear them for sure.

"I didn't mean it just like that, silly. Now do you have something or not?", Clair asked again, smirking.

Eve just shook her head, still watching the soldiers walking around the docks. "Great. These guys have communicators too. They'll call for help immediately if something were to happen.", she murmured disappointed, already seeing the ship departing without them.

"You mean these new things to contact people all around El Nido?", Clair asked curiously. She had heard of them, but never actually seen one herself. Looking around, she spotted a small hammer lying near a few boxes close to a nearby house. Clair quickly walked towards it and took it before returning to Eve, who hadn't noticed her.

"Yeah, exactly those. But at the moment mostly high ranking soldiers have these. Way too expensive for normal people.", Eve answered absent-mindedly.

"Is that so?", Clair said in an oddly cheery voice and grinned maliciously. "Then we'd better start before the others arrive."

Eve turned around with a start. "What are you talking about? What can we do like this, we-", she protested, but was silenced by Clair's finger on her mouth.

"Just trust me, okay? For once?" Clair's voice was pleading, and Eve saw that her eyes were full of determinedness and the will to prove something. It was surprising. "Just do as I say."

For a moment Eve didn't say anything, thinking. But then a smile lit up her face. "Yeah, okay. Let's do it.", Eve answered with genuine trust, much to Clair's surprise. She had anticipated a "Let's plan this carefully" or a "Just let me handle it"-kind of answer. She almost didn't believe it.

"Just make sure you don't mess up.", Eve said and smirked, pointing her finger at her warningly. Clair just grinned in response. This was a lot more like her.

"Okay, just follow me. I'll get us on the ship in no time.", Clair whispered as they walked down the stairs in the shadows. They had to be as quiet as possible from now on.

As they reached the end of the stairs, they hid behind a stack of boxes the first soldier had just looked behind. Clair was sure he wouldn't look behind them again the next time he came over here. They should hurry either way, though.

Eve was behind Clair, also ducking behind the boxes. She shuffled nervously, impatiently awaiting Clair's orders. She hated to hide like that, only waiting to get caught.

"When I give you a sign, you dash up the gangplank as fast and quietly as possible. I'll follow if I can.", Clair whispered, her eyes following the soldier as he walked in circles in front of the gangplank.

This was ridiculous. It wouldn't work. They would get caught for sure. But despite fearing that, Eve tried to keep her mouth shut. She wanted to trust Clair, wanted to believe that she had a good plan. But somewhere deep inside her, she just couldn't. This was too important to just gamble it.

However, before she could say something to stop Clair, she was already gone, walking closely behind the soldier, exactly imitating his footsteps. She held her rod in her right hand, as if ready kill him with it.

Eve stared at them in disbelief as they walked farther and farther away, walking closely to the water. Yet the guard didn't realize a thing until it was too late. With one swift movement, Clair snatched the communicator from him with her left hand. As the guard turned around in surprise, Clair quickly swiped him off his feet with her rod, causing him to fall into the water.

Now she spun around, indicating Eve to dash to the ship, which she immediately did, closely followed by Clair. Just as they leapt over the rail of the ship, they could hear the gasp of the guard below. Eve quickly covered Clair's mouth with her hand, so the guard wouldn't hear them from below.

"Hey! What happened?", the other guard shouted, running up to him to help him out of the water.

"So…someone pushed me into the water…", the guard sputtered and coughed. A quick glance to his waist confirmed his suspicions about the attack. "Stole the communicator too…"

"Damn! That's why I'd told Viper to send more guards. There are just too many thugs around here!", the other guard shouted, looking around furiously.

From below, Eve just stared at them in wonder. They hadn't noticed a thing. It was unbelievable. But just when she wanted to turn to Clair she saw her reaching back with a small hammer in her hand. Within the split of a second the hammer flew high through the air, before coming harshly to the ground about fifteen meters away from them.

The guards' heads turned abruptly as they heard the noise.

"Over there!", they shouted in unison before rushing off into the direction the hammer had taken before.

Perfect. Simply perfect. Eve stared in awe into the face of her grinning friend.

"If they're not deaf, we'll just have to make them.", Clair said proudly.

She was right. Of course. The gangplank was loud, but while underwater, the guard couldn't hear a thing.

"You're a genius.", Eve said, still staring incredulously.

"Aw, c'mon. It was pretty simple.", Clair giggled, waving it off. "We better get inside now, we still have to look for a place to hide."

"Right."

* * *

"Boy, finally here. That nasty storm troubled us long enough, eh?", Kidd asked cheerily, leaping from their ship onto the small harbour of Guldove. 

"Correctement.", Harle answered sleepily, looking down to Kidd.

"Do ya mind stayin' here while I'm gettin' some food n' stuff? Don't wanna leave the ship alone…someone might steal it.", Kidd laughed at the thought, but was still worried about that possibility. They needed this ship and couldn't afford to lose it by any means.

"Fine wit' moi.", Harle just said, not really in the mood for jokes right now. The whole night without sleep was starting to take its toll on her and the bright morning light piercing into her sleepy eyes didn't do much to improve things.

"Okay, just relax then. I'll be back in no time!", Kidd shouted and dashed off. She seemed in a terribly good mood considering how they had spent the night. Maybe things like that were fun for her. One could never know.

With a yawn, Harle settled on the wooden rail of the ship, dangling her feet as she let the soft morning breeze blow through her hair. Maybe it wouldn't be such a bad day after all.

As she closed her eyes, her mind started to wander…imagining much nicer things than those that had happened lately. She wondered when she would be able to simply enjoy herself again. Lying in bed all day with Kidd, talking about everything and nothing at all. Meeting old friends again. Going shopping in Termina like she used to do every time they were near the city.

"Hey, miss." A loud and barking voice shook her out of her reverie.

Harle opened her eyes to look down on three bulky men with disgusting grins on their faces. So much for her nice day.

"You seemed terribly lonely up there, so my bro here said to keep you company.", the shortest one of the bunch said, nudging the tall man beside him with his elbow.

"Zat iz not necessary, merci beaucoup.", Harle answered, her manners taking the best of her. Actually, she wanted to smash these rude men to bits just about now.

"Aw, c'mon! Aren't you afraid, all by your lonesome?", the tall man asked with a sickening voice. "We'd really like to spend some time with you."

"Taisez-vous!", Harle snapped, now irritated. "Moi iz not alone. Now leave, rapidement." She eyed the three men with obvious anger and disgust. Why were these guys so intend on getting on her nerves? Or maybe they wanted to steal the ship just as Kidd had predicted?

"You've some nerve, talking to our bro like that!", the shorter man yelled angrily, clenching his fists.

'How pathetic.', Harle thought. "You know…actually moi waz talking to all of you imbéciles.", she said as she stood up, smiling wickedly. If they wanted to have some fun with her that badly, they could have it.

"And here I wanted to be nice.", the "big bro" said with a chuckle. "But if you want it like that…"

The other two understood instantly and jumped onto the ship. Harle immediately dodged the first attack by leaping backwards, but all too soon did she reach the back of their small ship. Not that there was any more space to her sides, since the three men were rapidly closing in on her.

Harle quickly pulled her cards out of her pocket, placing five in each hand. It would still be tough though. She remembered teaching Jack how to hit two marks with one shot, but would she be able to do three? Unlikely.

"Now be nice and give up. I'd hate to hurt you."

Harle bit her lip. They underestimated her, treated her like a little girl. But the truth was, she couldn't do much in this situation. As much as she would love to simply launch her Lunairetic attack, she couldn't. It would destroy the whole ship. She just hoped these guys had realized that too and wouldn't start using elements.

"Gotcha!", one of them shouted, reaching for Harle's arm. However, she made a roll to the side, launching half of her cards at the man, who screamed in pain as one of them struck him directly in the face, causing a thick red line of blood to emanate from it.

"You bitch!", an other one said, running towards her. At first she wanted to throw cards at him as well, but as she saw the third one getting closer from the corner of her eye, she thought better of it.

Instead, she leapt high into the air, much to the guys' surprise. She threw her cards at the one to her side and used her free hands to hit the man directly under her. The attacker beneath her went down with an ugly crack, and Harle wondered if she had hit the neck a little too hard.

As she got up from her knees and looked around, a satisfied smile spread on her lips. She walked over to the "boss" of the gang, cautiously turning him around with her foot. Two cards had struck him into the right arm, the other ones in the legs. If he didn't get any treatment soon, he wouldn't be able to use his arm in quite a while.

"Serves you right.", Harle spat. But before she could turn around to see how the others were doing, she was grabbed by an arm around her neck so fiercely it took her breath away.

"Now it's over!", the man shouted and laughed triumphantly.

"Vraiment.", Harle whispered and chuckled. With a start, she grabbed his choking arm with both hands and pushed herself off the ground with all her strength. The man just looked at her dumbfounded as he saw Harle directly above him, before he found himself lying on the floor. Before he could stand up again, Harle made sure he'll lose consciousness by striking her foot across his head.

After she looked around to make sure that everybody was down, for good, she allowed herself to take a few deep breaths.

"Complètement ridicule…", she muttered as she heaved the men up one after another to shove them over board. She didn't want to have trash like that on the ship.

"Oi…that looks like…morning exercises?", Kidd shouted in surprise as she noticed the bodies in front of their ship. Carefully she made her way around them, balancing two boxes on her shoulders.

"Let moi help.", Harle said gently as she took one box off Kidd. It was only now that she realized Kidd's new clothes. They weren't really different than the ones she had before, though. The red of the vest was slightly deeper and the top underneath whiter…but that was probably due to it being clean.

"Trés chouette.", Harle said approvingly and smiled.

"Yeah, it's kinda nice not ta look like some bloody beggar anymore.", Kidd answered and laughed, planting a kiss on Harle's cheek as she passed by.

"Anyway…", she started setting the box down in a corner. "Do I even wanna know what happened?"

Harle just laughed and shook her head. "As you said, juzt a little…morning practize."

"Some poor guys…", Kidd joked as she loosened the rope which had held their ship in place. "And off we go."

Harle smiled as she saw Guldove slowly disappearing on the horizon. These annoying guys…she wondered what they had been after…was it really the ship, or rather something, or someone else?

Back in Guldove, it took the three men quite some time to be able to stand up again.

"Damn, some bitch…", the tallest of them mumbled, gritting his teeth. That girl was far better than he had expected.

"No kidding.", the other one said, hissing as he tried to stand up. With a frown he took out his communicator, angrily punching in a few numbers.

"Hello? Yeah, it's me. We spotted her here in Guldove. What? No…we didn't get her. What…? Damn, you should've told us she was this dangerous. Should've seen her face…yeah, she had quite some fun beating us up. Huh? Yeah, I saw them heading north-west. Hey, don't hang up yet! You better pay us the double amount, you didn't say we'd have to fear for our lives when meeting her. Yeah, right. You'd better do so." As he hung up, he had an angry look on his face.

"So, what did he say?", the others asked curiously.

"Nothing much. He'll send someone over here to pay us. Tsk. I swear, no more business with Viper, that's for sure."

A/N: Geez, OC's are taking over the story! XD Sorry about that, Harle and Kidd will get a bigger part next time.


	11. Dragon

A/N: Yay for innovative chapter titles XD Whatever. I hope you'll like this chapter, and thanks again for the reviews!

Chapter 11 – Dragon

"Geez, I still can't believe you convinced him to give you a cabin.", Clair said and laughed brightly. She was sitting on the single bed in the small cabin Eve and Clair shared from now on.

"Oh, Randal, somehow they mixed it up and didn't assign a room to me! What should I do?", she mimicked Eve's voice before falling into a fit of giggles.

"Hey, cut it out. At least I got us a room so we don't have to hide.", Eve said, blushing hard. Begging that jerk for a room was something very high up on her list of absolutely embarrassing things. But it would have been hard to hide all the time until they reached Porre, so a room of their own was the best choice. Of course no room had been assigned to them, so she had to talk Randal into showing her a free room. He seemed to be glad to help and Eve just hoped he wouldn't tell anyone about it.

"Maybe he has a thing for you.", Clair said with a wicked grin. "I mean, who else would've helped you as eagerly as he did?"

"Oh stop it, that's about the worst thing I want to think of right now." Eve sighed, pushing herself off the wall she was leaning on. "We've got other things to worry about."

"You and your worrying. We've even got a cabin now, we can walk around the ship and nobody would notice we don't belong here. So it'll be a piece of cake to snoop around a bit. Just relax.", Clair reassured her as she stood up. "So, what's the plan? Where should we look around first?"

"I want to know about that dragon thing you told me about. I want to see it for real.", Eve said without thinking. She wanted to see the thing that was said to be the cause of the death of Kidd's friend. She still didn't know what to expect of it. A dragon…she had never seen one before. She was a bit scared.

"Then I'll cover the boys. Some of them might have some interesting information." Clair giggled. It wasn't that she thought of herself as overly beautiful and attractive, but the male soldiers tended to melt when she talked to them. She had always thought they were like that because there just weren't many female soldiers around, and Eve would do just as well, if she weren't so embarrassed about such things.

"Okay, then let's go. I suggest we meet here again around dinner time." Eve nodded at herself. Dinner time would be best, they couldn't go anywhere then anyway, for most of the crew would be eating and two soldiers still walking around would raise eyebrows.

"Alright, dinner time it is, then.", Clair said and waved her hand as she exited their room. Eve watched her go, wondering where she should go first. It would take a while to search through all of the lower decks, but she guessed she had no choice.

By the time Eve finally left their cabin, Clair had already found her first target. It was a soldier like her, standing on the upper deck, obviously doing nothing.

"Taking a break so early?", she called, walking up to him.

The soldier turned around rapidly, his mouth opening to form an excuse. However, as he saw it was only Clair, he visibly relaxed and smiled at her.

"Geez, don't scare me like that.", he said and chuckled. He turned back around to regard the calm ocean, lighting a cigarette. "Didn't know you were on this mission too."

"Hey, do you think I'd miss something like that? I've never been to Porre before, I'm so excited!", Clair squealed in fake excitement.

"Heh. I think it's pretty cool too. Just sailing over to Porre, fetching Viper's things and back home. I like it when it's not much work.", the soldier said.

"Yeah me too. Though it's kinda odd. Why are there so many soldiers on this ship when we're just getting Viper's stuff?", Clair asked, trying not to sound too thoughtful. She had to be careful about what to say, she didn't have the slightest idea about what Viper had told them about this mission.

"Didn't you listen to Viper?", the soldier asked, causing Clair to stiffen and look at him blankly. She knew she shouldn't have asked.

"Thought so." He nudged Clair playfully, laughing. Clair relaxed, giggling sheepishly. For a moment she had really thought he would find out about her.

"He told us that we low-rank soldiers are just going there to get his stuff, but the other high-rank soldiers will be staying there for a while. Don't know why, though. He only told them specifically. It's not our business anyway.", he explained.

"Yeah.", Clair said, looking at him intently. "Guess there are some nice sides to being a low-rank soldier, eh?" Both giggled at that and Clair could have sworn she had just seen a hint of a blush on the man's cheeks.

"Anyway, I got to go. Don't want to be caught here doing nothing. See you later.", she said with a sigh, touching his shoulder while passing him. Just before going through the door leading inside the ship, she turned around, catching the soldier still staring after her.

The soldier turned around with a start, pretending not to have watched her leave. With a wide grin on her face, Clair went through the door.

Good, he wasn't suspicious of her in the least. If anything, he was interested if she was still single or not.

While Clair was immensely proud of her first victory, Eve was a nervous wreck, cautiously walking down the stairs which led to the lowest deck. She had already checked the one above, but found nothing but boxes, which hadn't been terribly interesting if it weren't for the fact that they had all been empty. Just big, empty, wooden boxes. Eve had even gone so far as to check them for any false bottoms, finding none. She found it highly disturbing. However, the ominous dragon hadn't been there, so here she was, all alone on the lowest, and darkest deck. There had been many lights on the one above, but down here, Eve could hardly see anything. Only a handful of lights made her able to see her hand in front of her eyes.

Her steps were slow, careful. The last thing she needed was to trip and sprain her ankle or something similar. This deck wasn't divided into various small rooms like the one above, so if it had been a little bit brighter, she could have seen everything from the front to the back of the whole deck. Unfortunately, it wasn't, so Eve could only make out a few boxes around her. She went towards one, breaking it open with her sword. There were weapons inside, but no ordinary ones. She would have expected swords and cannon balls, but the box was full of guns.

She had once heard that the Porre army used guns, which were far more effective, but also more expensive, than swords.

"What in the world…?", she whispered unbelievingly. Could it be that all these boxes were full of these guns? What did Viper want to do with them in Porre?

Eve was intimidated just by being around of so many guns, so she closed the box again and went deeper into the room. She squinted hard, trying to see what was in the back of the deck. It looked like a huge box.

Eve walked towards it quickly, not caring about possible injuries anymore. She needed to know what it was that was back there…it was so big, possibly a huge cannon, or something else entirely. Eve wouldn't put it past Viper to have secretly invented a new kind of weapon, more powerful than all those before. The thought made her shudder.

However, it only took her a few steps more until she realized what was in front of her. What had seemed like a box at first she identified as a cage, and two sparkling yellow eyes greeted her from within.

Eve shouted in surprise, quickly walking back. It was really here. The dragon, about whom she had all but forgotten for the moment was directly in front of her, staring at her intently.

She could even hear his breathing, she didn't know why she hadn't noticed it before. It was rhythmic, and slow. Eve tried to tell herself that this was a good sign, that it showed that the dragon wasn't excited…to attack her.

Eve shook her head, coming closer again. It was silly jerking back like that, after all he was in a huge metal cage. The bars were far enough apart for a human to slip through, but definitely too narrow for this thing.

The dragon still watched her, scrutinizing her. But upon closer inspection, Eve found that the dragons' eyes seemed pained, broken. And that scared her even more than an angry look would have. Because the eyes in front of her didn't seem like ones from a mere animal, the seemed intelligent. Maybe not on the same level as humans, but intelligent nonetheless. She couldn't believe that she stood here in front of this monster, almost pitying it because its eyes were so full of feelings. She wanted to turn around, to leave, but she was so drawn to its eyes, that she found that she couldn't.

It wasn't that she didn't fear this dragon before her anymore, she was scared to death. Its big head…those impressive fangs it showed occasionally, the mighty body, which wasn't as big as she would have expected from a dragon, but still too big for her if she would ever have to deal with this thing.

Just as she was about to look around the area a bit more, she heard voices coming down the wooden stairs. Eve panicked, looking around anxiously. She couldn't turn around. They, whoever they were, would see her. The boxes were too far in their direction also. And in front of her, there was nothing aside from that huge cage.

The cage was directly in front of the back wall, which destroyed her initial plan to try to hide behind the dragons' cage.

The voices came closer, obviously arguing. One of them was Viper. Eve's heart stopped. Why was he on the ship? He never took part in missions, always managing them from the manor. What in the world did he come here for!

Things were looking really bad now. The only person she had to prevent from seeing her was directly heading into her direction. She could have come up with some excuse if they had just been some ordinary soldiers. But Viper knew she didn't belong here, knew she was too curious, and probably knew how to get rid of her really fast.

As quickly and quietly as possible she walked to the back of the room, standing right beside the cage. She hoped against all hope that they wouldn't see her, that it would be too dark. But she knew it wouldn't happen. They were steadily coming closer. Eve just wanted to stand up to run over to the side wall to eventually sneak past them when something firm gripped her and pulled her through the bars into the cage. Eve would have screamed if it weren't for the fact that her mouth was firmly shut by the same thing which held the rest of her body as well, making her unable to move. After a few seconds however, the movement stopped and as she looked around she found herself inside the cage, the dragon's tail holding her in place.

Thoughts of being eaten alive, or stamped to death ran through her mind, making her dizzy. But as she looked forward, she found that the dragon wasn't even looking at her.

"Here we are.", a rough female voice uttered, startling Eve. She looked ahead, but couldn't see anything aside from the dragon.

"It looks well enough. I have gotten information about those girls, so we'll use it again soon. This time it should work." Viper laughed wickedly, but stopped abruptly. Eve guessed it was because the other voice wasn't laughing along with him.

"I know it's not the original purpose of the dragon to get these girls. But so far it has proved itself effective. After we are through with them, we can use it the way we intended to.", Viper said. This time, an eerie chuckle escaped the woman's lips.

"But can't you do something about the way it looks? It doesn't look too aggressive to me." Viper sounded sceptical and for a moment Eve thought he would try kicking the dragon just to test its reaction.

"No.", the woman's answer was short and firm. A no-nonsense person it seemed, and Eve racked her brain to remember where she had heard that particular voice before. She didn't come up with an immediate result, though.

"Well, I guess it'll be aggressive enough when actually put into a fight.", Viper said and laughed awkwardly. His voice seemed impressed by the woman, he sounded like he didn't want to argue with her too much.

The woman didn't say another word and left abruptly, with Viper awkwardly running after her. Under different circumstances, it would have made Eve laugh. But now, that they were gone, she was reminded of her current position. She was caught by a dragon, and didn't expect much from its plans with her.

Eve squeezed her eyes shut, hoping the dragon would end it soon and not overly painful for her. She felt being moved around, but still didn't dare to open her eyes. The last thing she wanted to see was the ugly jaw of something which was going to eat her.

In the next moment however, she felt the hard ground underneath and opened her eyes. She was outside of the cage and in one piece as well. Eve searched to meet the eyes of the dragon. They were the same as before, with an air of indifference, nothing that could make her think that the dragon hadn't just helped her to hide from Viper and that woman. No trace of something that would drive her to commit suicide. Nothing.

Eve shook off these thoughts and stood up, trying to focus on what she had to do. To quickly and safely get back to her cabin was high on the list.

As she passed the cage, she took one last look at the dragon.

"Thanks…I guess.", Eve whispered hesitantly, feeling shy and stupid at the same time. There was no way he would understand her, but she was glad that she had thanked him. Despite knowing that Viper was on this ship and what trouble it could cause her, she felt just a bit happier than before. Though she didn't know why.

As she made her way back to the stairs, she almost stumbled over a wooden board, which leaned against one of the boxes. She was tempted to kick the board out of the way before she realized that she had been the one who had put it there. It was beside the box she had opened. After everything that had happened just now and after everything she had heard from Viper, she grabbed one of the guns and the two bags that came with it: one filled with lead bullets and one filled with black powder. Then gun itself was heavy enough, Eve thought as she strapped it onto her back, but she had gotten the impression that these bags were necessary to make the gun work. She just hoped Clair knew about these things, or otherwise she could only use it to knock someone out.

She walked back up the stairs, careful not to make any noise. The way back to her cabin would be harder, now that she knew Viper was around, and now that she was carrying a stolen gun.

However, as she reached the top of the stairs nobody was around. Eve guessed it had to be dinner time already, which was just perfect. She quickly slipped around various corners, avoiding the few guards who still stood around, and soon reached the cabin. After closing the door behind her, she exhaled deeply, feeling a huge part of her nervousness vanish.

"Hey, what took you?", Clair asked, looking up from the bed she was lying on.

"You don't want to know."

* * *

Their small ship sped over the ocean quite nicely. The wind was strong, but this time, it was in their favour, pushing the ship onward instead of trying to stop it. Harle sat in front of the ship, enjoying the fresh air and the occasional splash of water into her face. Kidd stood behind her, in front of the steering wheel, with a confident smile on her face. 

Every once in a while, Harle turned her head to look at her, smiling at how much Kidd looked like a proud captain. Just the typical hat was missing, but that wouldn't be so hard to get. Harle chuckled at the thought.

Laying back, she looked at the sky above her. It was bright blue, with only a few white clouds preventing it from perfection. The clouds passed by and Harle wondered which one was moving faster, their ship or the clouds above. A few birds flew by as well, but Harle couldn't name them. It didn't matter, anyway. Nothing mattered right now. Except one thing, maybe.

"When will we reach Porre, mon amour?", she asked, a devilish smile on her face.

Kidd frowned at her but then burst into laughter. "Brat!", she called back. "Ya just asked ten minutes ago."

Harle giggled and cast her eyes over the ocean again. She still couldn't see Porre, but it was to be expected. After all, they just left Guldove this morning and now the sun was just barely beginning to set. It would take them at least one or two days more. Not that she minded. She enjoyed travelling like this, at least as long as the weather was this nice.

Harle averted her eyes, looking to the side. To her surprise, she saw a rather small sea serpent jumping over the waves. Harle quickly stood up and ran over to the rail to take a closer look.

The sea serpent was actually pretty quick. It continuously leapt over a wave, dove into the water, then leapt over the next wave. Harle watched it for a while, impressed that it could keep up with the speed of the ship seemingly effortlessly, even though it was merely one metre long and very slim.

"Over zere, Kidd, un sea serpent!", she shouted laughingly over to her friend.

"A what!" Kidd's response was one of shock rather than interest, which surprised Harle. "Where is it?"

"Zere!", Harle called and leaned over the rail with an outstretched arm, pointing at the serpent. She giggled at how cute it looked.

Kidd's eyes quickly followed Harle's arm, almost frightened over what she was about to see. She could still remember her last encounter with this kind vividly. And she wasn't exactly keen on a rematch. They had won the last time, but more out of luck than skill. And who knew how powerful this one would be?

However, as Kidd's gaze reached the point Harle was indicating, she saw nothing.

"Where is it? I can't see it.", she asked, but right after the last word left her lips, she saw it. And it made her laugh. "Geez, could've told me it was a bloody baby. Ya scared me."

Harle turned her face to Kidd, her right hand pushing the whirling strands of hair behind her ear. "Oh, iz it? Moi didn't know. Are ze odder's bigger?"

Kidd laughed even harder now. "Hell, yeah. Should've seen the one Eve and I had ta deal with."

Eve. Kidd had told her about this soldier, with whom she had managed to escape from that island. Every time she talked of Eve, Kidd had this smile on her lips, and Harle just couldn't help feeling a bit jealous. She trusted Kidd, but when she talked about how she had spent these few days, it sounded like fun, whereas Harle didn't want to think about what she had been through then.

Shaking off these unpleasant thoughts, she curiously regarded the baby serpent again. She extended her arm towards it, half waving and half hoping it would come a little closer to her. "Do serpent babies alwayz swim seule?", she asked, marvelling at the independence this would ask of the babies. It had to be hard too, being alone from this early on.

"Nah, of course not, they're always close ta their-", Kidd started to explain but choked on her words as she realized what this meant. "Look out, Harle!", she shouted, startling Harle.

"Pourquoi?", was all Harle managed to ask before she saw the huge jaw of another sea serpent right under her outstretched arm. With a scream she withdrew her arm right before the serpent reached it. Instead, it shot up even higher, frightening Harle, who stumbled backwards and tripped. If it could jump that high out of the water, it wouldn't be a problem for it to get right onto the deck.

"Kidd!", she shouted, her voice full of fear.

Kidd stared at the huge serpent just as it was about to dive into the water again. "Damn! We gotta do somethin'! It's too fast ta escape it!"

Harle stood up and flung a few cards at the serpent, but they weren't strong enough to penetrate the layer of scales and just fell off.

And just as the serpent landed on their deck, Harle realized that this had been a really bad idea. Because now it was angry.

The serpent snapped at her, but Harle managed to dodge it. She quickly took out her Gravity Ball element, casting it towards the fiery perpetrator.

The blow hit the serpent square into the face, hurling it off the ship. Harle quickly ran after it, staring as it hit the water with a splash. Harle hadn't thought it would be this easy. Her innate colour usually didn't work very well against most enemies, seeing how only few had a white innate.

Harle was just about to think that she had won, when the head of the beast emerged from the water, apparently unhurt. It picked up speed quickly, seemingly trying to get on board again. Harle didn't waste time with any more useless elements. Instead, she ran over to Kidd.

"Hit it while it'z still in ze water!", she called as she took hold of the steering wheel. She should have done this much earlier, Kidd's elements were so much more effective against water-elemental beasts, or at least she hoped so.

Kidd just nodded and dashed towards the end of the ship, readying her FirePillar element. At first she had wanted to use her strongest element, Volcano. But it was too large-scale and she had to hit this enemy directly.

The sea serpent was just about to jump out of the water again as Kidd cast the element. A huge pillar of fire surrounded its head, making it howl in pain as it fell back into the water. By the time it emerged again, the wind had already put a decent distance between the serpent and the ship, much to Kidd's relief. She watched it for a while, and smiled as she saw that the serpent now headed into a different direction.

"Kidd! Look!", Harle suddenly shouted, startling Kidd. With a feeling of dread, she turned her head towards Harle.

"What now?", she asked anxiously, but her jaw dropped open when she saw what was in front of them. Walking toward Harle, she shook her head unbelievingly.

It was their ship. She'd recognize it anywhere and the sail painted with the letters "RD" made it unmistakable.

"What the hell?", Kidd gasped in surprise. "Ya seein' this too?"

Harle didn't answer, but hugged Kidd fiercely, laughing brightly.

"Whoa!", Kidd shouted and gripped the steering wheel which threatened to run loose. "What are they doin' here? And why are they so bloody slow? Even our nutshell is faster."

Indeed, the small ship was quickly coming closer to the Radical Dreamers' ship, which, while not lying still, hardly moved onward.

"Oi! Guys!", Kidd shouted as loud as she could as their small boat was right beside them. "Hey! Answer already!" At the same time, Harle was already rolling up the sail to make the ship halt.

After a while, several heads popped up above them, surprise clearly written on their faces.

"Finally!", Kidd called and laughed. "Care ta get me and Harle up?", she asked as she playfully caught Harle with her hands around her hip, holding her close.

Kidd and Harle just heard incoherent babbling from above, but soon they threw the end of a rope down to the women. Kidd caught it easily and tied it onto the smaller ship before letting Harle climb up. After Harle reached the deck, Kidd quickly followed.

Up on the deck, they were greeted with at least a dozen baffled faces. Kidd already wanted to say something when the captain stepped out, looking just as surprised as the rest of the crew.

"Took ya a hell of a lotta time ta come here, mates.", the captain said harshly, but the smile on his lips gave away just how glad he was to see them.

"Yeah, sorry 'bout that. A lot happened.", Kidd said with a grin. Harle remained saying nothing at all, so she just stood behind Kidd.

"S'pose so. Well anyway, welcome on board. Tell us the whole story later, ya look bloody tired.", the captain said a little more gently after he had taken a closer look at the pair. They both seemed really exhausted.

Kidd nodded. "One question though. Why are ya sailin' so damn slowly? We'd better hurry." She looked sternly at the captain.

"Just take a look.", the captain said with a hint of anger, pointing towards the second, and biggest sail. There was a huge hole in it, and Kidd wondered why she hadn't seen it right away.

"Damn, what's that?", Kidd asked. This hole meant serious problems and Kidd already didn't want to know who or what could have torn a hole this huge into the sail. The biggest one no less. If it had just been the first or third one it wouldn't have been so much of problem, because they were much smaller.

"Ya say it. There was this giant insect I've ne'er seen before and it flew bloody fast. Tore right through it."

"Giant insect? Whaddaya talkin' 'bout?", Kidd asked, not really taking him seriously. He had to be imagining things.

"Wingapede.", Harle said while regarding the hole. It was the only thing she knew of that could have done this.

"You're right! Hadn't thought of that. But why would it destroy the sail?", Kidd asked, as if she thought Harle had all the answers.

"Ze Wingapede doez whatever ze owner of ze flute wishes.", Harle explained. Of course, she didn't think that it didn't have a free will of its own, but she couldn't think of a reason why it would do something like that. This whole thing reeked of sabotage.

"Oh yeah, the flute…", Kidd said thoughtfully. Someone had to be behind this, but who she didn't know. It didn't matter now, anyway. The question was what to do about that hole. "Bugger, we're way too slow with that kinda hole."

"Yeah, but talk 'bout fixin' it. It's too bloody big. We can't just tie it shut with rope or somethin'.", the captain said in a huff.

"Damn.", was all Kidd could say. It had been her first idea as well, but the captain was right. It wouldn't work.

"We could uze ze petite sail.", Harle said nonchalantly, causing everyone to stare at her. "It could work, non?"

"I think it's a bloody great idea.", Kidd said and laid her arm protectively around Harle's shoulders as the others just continued to stare. "We've nothin' ta lose by tryin' anyway. So let's get started."

Finally, the captain nodded. "I guess it'll take quite some time fixin' the sail, but with a proper sail we'll be faster in the long run." Harle's and Kidd's faces lit up while he said this. "Alright mates, ya heard what the ladies said, now get started!"

With an eager "Aye!" the men dashed off, starting to untie the smaller sail to get it onto the bigger ship.

"As for ya two…", the captain started, regarding the women from head to toe, "Ya better get some sleep now. We'll take care of the rest and see ta it that we'll reach Porre in no time."

Kidd smiled gratefully at the older man. "Thanks. And by the way, it was bloody clever from ya ta head for Porre. I'm sure Viper will go there too. That bastard needs ta get his ass kicked so hard he'll kiss the moons next time I see him."

The captain just laughed at that notion and watched them go inside the ship, probably directly to their cabin.

However, just as Kidd and Harle reached their cabin, Jack came around the corner, wearing a nervous look.

"G…good to see you are back. Could I talk to you for a minute, Harle?" Jack's voice sounded almost shy as he said this, and he didn't dare looking at Kidd.

"Bien sûr.", Harle said simply. With one last glance to Kidd, she turned around, following Jack. Kidd just shrugged and went inside the cabin she shared with Harle.

Meanwhile Harle reached Jack's room, and they both went inside. Harle simply sat down on his bed while Jack stood awkwardly by the door.

"You know…I'm really glad you're well. I was worried ever since you…left us.", he said, looking to the ground.

"Moi iz sorry. It waz juzt so…dificíle…wit'out Kidd.", Harle apologized genuinely.

Kidd. It was her again. Of course. Everything in the world meant nothing for her when it came to Kidd. Jack took a deep breath to calm himself. He had expected Harle to say something like this, so he shouldn't be disappointed. But he was.

"What…what had happened anyway? You seemed so different when I spoke to you after we had found you in the ocean. Then you just disappeared…it was because of Viper, wasn't it? He was the cause of all this?" Jack almost whispered while saying this, his voice full of worry.

"Zere were Viper soldierz in Marbule to attack uz, mais zey were no match pour moi. However…zey had him…", Harle choked, a few tears running down her cheeks. "It'z too hard to say. Moi iz sorry." With that, Harle stood up and headed for the door.

"Harle! Please, you can tell me.", Jack called after her, reaching out his hand.

With a look full of sadness, Harle turned around to him. "Moi tried to kill myself." As expected, Jack just stared at her speechlessly, unable to follow her as Harle left his cabin.

Outside, Harle tried to wipe away her tears, but they wouldn't stop. She hadn't wanted to think about what had happened in Marbule, much less talk about it. But Jack's eyes…he was so worried. Part of her had wanted to tell him, but she just couldn't bring herself to speak that word.

Dragon. Speaking this word in her mind was already enough to make Harle shiver with dread and she quickly hurried back to her cabin.

As she opened the door, Kidd looked at her, obviously having waited for her return. Kidd had opened her mouth to say something, but quickly shut it as she saw the tears in Harle's eyes.

Kidd jumped up and rushed over to her and Harle fell into her arms immediately.

"What's wrong?", Kidd asked hesitantly as she stroked Harle's hair.

Sobs were all she got for an answer, which increased her worrying.

"Is it because of Jack? Do I have ta beat 'im up?", Kidd asked and chuckled, hoping to increase the mood, if only a little.

To her surprise Harle stopped sobbing and just shook her head, which still leaned onto Kidd's shoulder. "He…asked moi about what had happened…in Marbule…" Her voice broke as she said this and Kidd immediately understood what she meant.

"Oh Harle…", Kidd said, holding her closer. "I can't even begin ta understand how hard this must be for ya. I'm sorry I can't do anythin' else than tryin' ta protect ya…" Kidd was at a loss. No matter how much she said to soothe Harle, she could never destroy the cause of her fears. The dread of the dragons was so deeply imprinted into her mind that Harle could never forget it. It was her whole past, the dragons were an inerasable part of her life.

"Non, non. You are here, mon amour. Wit'out toi…moi couldn't exzist.", Harle whispered. At first she hadn't wanted to acknowledge this truth, but now she knew better. She was nothing without Kidd. She wasn't angry because of that, didn't feel useless or too dependant. It was just the only way she could live anymore. She didn't regret it.

"Let's go ta bed, Harle. Ya'll see, it'll all be better tomorrow.", Kidd said gently, kissing Harle on the forehead. Harle just nodded and followed Kidd to bed.

* * *

"Hey, Eve…", Clair said lazily, a hint of a smile on her face. "You know what?" 

"Yeah, I do.", Eve groaned, not even bothering to open her eyes. They both lay on the small single bed, facing different ends.

"I'm hungry.", Clair stated, receiving only a sigh from Eve as an answer. Eve was tempted to kick Clair's head, if only to make her talk about something else for a few minutes.

"Can't we just-", Clair started before being interrupted by a sharp "No" from Eve.

"Just deal with it. We'll arrive in Porre in one or two days.", Eve sighed. She turned to look out of the window, seeing that it was already daybreak. About time for breakfast, she thought, but knew better than to mention it. It was impossible for them to just attend meals, especially now that they knew Viper was on board also. They just had to hold out until they reached Porre. It couldn't be so hard. People could survive without food for weeks. However, Eve had to admit that it was becoming harder and harder to ignore the steady grumbling of her stomach.

"I'll be starved by then and you know it.", Clair huffed, trying hard to think of something else, with little success.

"Fine. Go out the door and get yourself something to eat. Just leave me out of it when you get caught.", Eve said aggravated. She hated this lying around in this room too, but as long as it was this quiet outside, it was no use. They had to wait until everyone was up and about, then it would be easier to walk around.

"Yeah, I know it's dangerous, especially with Viper around. I just can't stand lying around doing nothing when we still have so much to find out.", Clair whined.

"Yeah, it's kind of-", Eve started, but stopped dead when she heard the alarm going off, resounding throughout the ship. "What the hell?"

Clair immediately stood up, grabbing her sword and rod.

"What are you doing?", Eve shouted in surprise. "We don't even know what's going on!"

"Then it's time to find out.", Clair answered, pointing to the door. They could already hear the sound of many soldiers dashing along the corridors. "Take your gun with you."

Eve merely looked at her with a confused expression. "I have no experience with this thing!"

"C'mon, I explained it to you last night. Just fill the barrel with gunpowder and one of those lead bullets, and pull the trigger. It's a simple flintlock mechanism.", Clair explained and shrugged.

"Then you take it.", Eve offered anxiously, already stretching out her arm to give it to her. Normally, she wasn't afraid of weapons, but this gun seemed too incontrollable to her.

"No, silly. You want me to take three weapons? I can hardly carry these two. Don't worry about the gun too much, you probably won't need it anyway. Now let's go see what this fuss outside is about." Without waiting for a response, Clair turned and opened the door. Eve quickly strapped the gun on her back and hurried after her friend.

"You think it's because of the dragon? Maybe he broke out or something?", Eve asked while running along the corridors.

"Weren't you the one telling me just yesterday that the dragon was harmless?", Clair panted. Eve didn't know an answer to that. She didn't really know what to think of the dragon at all.

Outside, it seemed as if all soldiers on the ship had assembled on the deck, and Eve and Clair could hardly get through.

"What's going on?", Eve tried to ask a fellow soldier, but they were all shouting and running, so he didn't even hear her.

"Quiet everyone!", a harsh male voice suddenly shouted and every soldier turned to regard Viper, who was standing on a small pedestal so everyone could see him. He had a stern look on his face.

"The ship of the enemy is right in front of us! It is unexpected, but we have to strike now and drown these rats right here!", Viper proclaimed. "Now go to the cannons and fetch your weapons!"

To Eve's surprise, the soldiers saluted eagerly and went to ready the weapons.

"The enemy?", Eve asked aloud and searched for Clair, who was trying to get to the rail to be able to see better. Soon Eve joined her, searching for the so-called enemy. However, she only spotted a rather old-looking ship with a painted "RD" on its sails. She had no idea who this ship belonged to.

"Clair, do you know who this is?", she asked thoughtfully. Inwardly, she wondered why the others seemed to know what to do while she didn't.

"No idea. Here, take a look. I don't know them.", Clair said as she handed Eve a glass she had just snatched from another soldier.

Eve grabbed the glass without looking at her friend, immediately taking a look. What she saw made her heart stop. She should have known. Should have at least expected it. But nothing had prepared her to see Kidd on the other ship, with an anxiously looking girl beside her. Harle. The targets Viper spoke of when she heard him down by the dragon. Did that mean…?

Eve's eyes widened as she realized the speed at which their ship was approaching the one Kidd was on. It would start any minute now. And with so many soldiers, the others didn't stand a chance.

"Clair, we have to do something! They'll attack them!", Eve cried desperately for her friend.

"What can we do? They'll kill us if we disobey!", Clair answered frantically.

"No! We can't let them die, you hear? We have to help them!", Eve shouted.

"Don't you realize we're on the wrong ship to help?", Clair yelled. As much as she hated it, she couldn't do anything without risking her life. She didn't want the others to die either, even though she didn't know them. And she knew she was on the wrong side…

"No, there has to be something we can do!" Eve refused to give up now. She still didn't know what Viper was up to, but she did know that he had no right to attack Kidd and the others. She had to stop him.

Eve turned around and dashed towards the door leading downstairs, already having something in mind. Clair followed closely, even though she had no idea where Eve was heading for.

The deck was almost devoid of people now. Most of the soldiers probably went down to arm themselves with guns and the others either stood on the rail with long ropes, ready to leap onto the other ship once it was close or went one deck below, to the cannons.

Just as Eve and Clair reached the door, they heard the first shot of the cannon, and turned around anxiously, hoping it hadn't hit.

And indeed, the first shot had missed by a few metres, but at the rate the ship was coming closer, the soldiers would soon start to jump over to the other ship.

"They'll hit next time!", Clair shouted to Eve in panic.

Eve looked back and forth between the door and the soldiers standing ready at the rail. There were approximately twenty soldiers on the deck right now, but the others would come up the stairs soon.

"We'll change plans! C'mon!", Eve yelled as she took out her sword. Clair nodded, understanding immediately.

With a roar, they dashed off towards the line of unsuspecting men. Eve attacked from the right, and Clair from the left, thus dividing the men into ten for each.

Eve leapt into the air and kicked the first of the soldiers directly into the face, causing him to stumble backwards into the men behind him, thus disabling the first three men for a few moments. Eve didn't halt, however. As soon as she reached the ground, she ran towards the next soldier in line. With one swift move of her sword, she knocked the soldier's sword out of his hand. Within the next second, she disposed of him by kicking him into his side, sending him flying over board.

The next six men were more difficult, as they had already surrounded her by the time she looked around. For the right half, she simply cast her ThundaStorm element, at the same time dealing with the first three soldiers who were just about to stand up. For the last three to her left, she had to rely solely on her skills with the sword. Loading the gun would be impossible now, and Eve half wished that she was as good with a rod as Clair was.

Because Clair was doing quite well with her share of soldiers. She mainly used her rod to run over or knock out the soldiers in her way, then used her sword to either disarm, or disable them without killing them. With the effective use of these two weapons, Clair was done with them in less than three minutes, while Eve was still struggling.

"You mind if I lend a hand?", Clair shouted laughingly as she disposed of the soldier closest to her by pushing him over board with a strike of her rod.

After a few more blows and parries, Clair and Eve had successfully stopped all twenty men. Which meant that as long as the others didn't come up, Kidd and her crew would be safe.

"Quickly! Block the door!", Eve shouted to her friend and Clair immediately obeyed. They both knew that blocking the door would only work for a small amount of time, but it was better than nothing.

While Clair dashed for the door, Eve jumped onto the rail, waving at the other ship which was now merely forty metres away. To her dismay, she realized that Viper's men had shot yet another cannonball at the other ship, which had apparently hit the first mast, for it was broken off.

"Hey!", she shouted as loud as she could. "You have to turn around! The others will come soon, you don't have a chance!" Eve's voice was almost pleading and Eve wanted to cry at the sheer hopelessness of this situation.

Finally, Kidd saw her from the other side, a look of complete bewilderment on her face. For a while, she just stared at Eve.

"Eve! Whaddaya doin'!", she finally shouted, unable to think of something else to say.

"You have to turn around! They'll kill you!", Eve called again, desperately.

"Ya kiddin'?", Kidd called with an unbelievably self-confident smile on her face. "Those bloody bastards ruined our mast!"

With that, she gave the rest of the crew a sign and they all started throwing their hooks over to the other ship, and Eve had to look out not be hit by one of them. A few hooks merely reached the rail while others got stuck in the sails.

As Eve looked around, she wondered if a dozen people would really be enough to win this fight. Just as she wanted to speak that thought, Kidd gave an incoherent sign to one of the few remaining people on her ship and Eve wondered why they were heading to the lower deck.

"Careful on the lower decks. Things will get ugly down there. Now find Viper!", Kidd called out to her mates, who immediately started to get to the lower deck. Fighting in a closed space was to their advantage because they were less in number anyway.

Kidd and Harle stayed on the upper deck though, thinking of what to do next.

"You can't be serious, Kidd! Do you know how many soldiers are down there? They have guns!" Eve was in utter despair as her mates just brushed past her, heading downstairs. Clair soon joined Eve, having no reason to block the door any longer.

"We just want Viper but if it comes down ta it, we'll sink this whole bloody ship with him.", Kidd said seriously. It didn't matter know what she wanted or not, it was their ship or his.

"Can't this be avoided! Think of all the people!", Eve cried, overwhelmed by the situation. She was a soldier, supposed to be used to things like this. Fighting, killing people. But never had she thought that something like this would happen.

"Just on which side are ya!", Kidd snapped irritably. Eve had just helped them by getting rid on the soldiers on board, but now she tried to stop them? With every minute they stood here arguing, their chances of winning were decreasing.

"On yours, damnit! We're just trying to figure out a way without too many casualties.", Clair answered angrily, now standing protectively in front of Eve, who just stared at her.

Just as Kidd wanted to respond, the ground beneath their feet moved and the all went back a few metres, staring as a wooden plate of approximately thirty-six square metres was pushed aside by an unknown mechanism.

Kidd walked up to the hole, looking down, but jerked back quickly as she saw something coming up.

It seemed like a cage. And as they heard Harle's deafening cry, they knew it was the dragon. The cage was lifted up high enough for the hole to close again, before it was set down.

"So…so that's why it had to be the Longinus One. Our battle ships couldn't do this.", Eve said in surprise. Now she understood. She wondered why she hadn't earlier. This dragon couldn't just be transported through the corridors, so a hole like this was needed. Even though the Longinus One wasn't a real battle ship, he had taken it just to transport the dragon, for the other ships had smaller holes with already installed weapons. It would have been too much of a bother to remove them first.

So Viper hadn't lied about what he told her. At first Eve hadn't believed that her crew couldn't save her because something urgent came up. But if it was like this…

"Don't worry about the-", Eve began, but was interrupted by Kidd's fierce roar as she dashed madly towards the dragon just as the cage opened, her dagger firmly held with two hands.

"No!", was all Eve managed to shout before she ran after her, unsheathing her sword.

All Harle could do was cry, staggering farther and farther away from the dragon, her eyes wide with shock.


	12. Clair

A/N: Okay, so this definitely took too long, but I have good excuses. Which I won't bore you with. So just hurry up and read it, and leave a review if you'd like. And thanks to all who have reviewed my last chapter, love you all.

Chapter 12 – Clair

It couldn't be. For him to be here...it simply couldn't be. Harle didn't realize she was screaming at the top of her lungs until her back hit the wooden rail behind her, causing a sharp intake of breath.

So he was real after all. He existed. It hadn't just all been a bad dream, as Harle had come to tell herself over the last, peaceful days.

A bad dream. Ridiculous. She had known all along that she could never escape the dragons, that they would keep on haunting her until the very day she died. She had been so foolish to hope for the contrary all this time. So foolish.

Her red eyes stared at the black dragon in front of her, wide with dread, but also infuriated with deep anger. Why her? How did she deserve all this? Why did she have this disgusting dragon blood running through her veins? And why was she so powerless to stop them? Her arms so weak, her body so frail compared to the dragons'. She didn't know, didn't want to know what kind of wicked twist of fate this had all caused.

Harle's eyes softened again as she saw a familiar figure running towards the dragon with drawn dagger. Kidd. There she was again, trying to protect her, as she had done countless times before. As she always did. Because Kidd wasn't afraid or just gave up on things. She was strong and determined, always ready to give everything she had.

But her gaze turned to ice as she saw someone running up to her, a sword raised to stop Kidd. 'Non!', Harle screamed inwardly, unconsciously reaching out her trembling hand. 'S'il te plaît…don't stop her…'

However, Eve did no such thing. She determinedly ran up to Kidd, raising her sword with both hands. It just wasn't fair. The dragon hadn't done anything yet, other than looking at them. It had even saved her from Viper a short time ago. To just attack it like that…

Just as Kidd leapt forward to stab the dragon, Eve brought down her sword with all her might. The sword hit the blade of the dagger, knocking it out of Kidd's grasp and directing it into the wooden flooring with a loud thud.

Eve quietly smiled at her achievement but instantly grimaced as she found herself unable to come to a halt, thus crashing into Kidd with full force, knocking them both to the ground.

While Eve took a few seconds to recover, Kidd was already up again, grabbing Eve fiercely by her collar. "What the hell are ya doin'!", she shouted angrily, but didn't wait for a response. She just pushed Eve back to the ground and quickly regained her dagger, readying herself for another attack on the dragon, which stood only about two metres in front of them. She wouldn't let herself be stopped like that. Not now that she finally faced him. Not now that she could let him feel the pain he had caused Harle.

"Stop it, Kidd! It hasn't done anything!", Eve shouted, swiftly picking up her sword again, pointing it towards Kidd for emphasis.

"Ya don't know anythin'! Ya don't know what they have done!", Kidd screamed, her voice broken. And to Eve's surprise, Kidd had tears in her eyes as she looked at her angrily. Her fists were clenched, trembling with emotions left restraint. "Ya don't know...anythin'."

Eve realized that Kidd was serious, and also that she wouldn't be the one to stop her. There was more behind this than Eve knew. The past of these two girls were somehow linked to the dragon. A past that seemed to have scarred them for life.

"Kidd, I-", Eve started but winced as she felt a sharp pain in her right hand, causing her to drop the sword she was holding. As she turned her head to look down at the cause, she saw a thin line of blood appearing on the back of her hand. A red line that went from her thumb across the whole hand.

Looking past her hand to the ground, she saw a playing card stuck in the wood beneath her. She noticed a thin layer of blood covering one side of the card. She also noticed that the Joker on the card smiled kind of evilly.

"What the…", Eve mumbled as she turned around to search for the owner of the card. The only thing she found however, were Harle's blazing red eyes, which were more than enough to silence her. She had never seen something like this before. Eyes, which seemed to shine with a light of their own. Despite Eve's efforts to the contrary, she was quite intimidated.

"Don't stop her…", Harle whispered eerily, her eyes flaring with anger and resentment. In both of her hands she carried five of these unusual cards. "Don't stop her from killing ze dragon..."

"Harle, no!", Kidd shouted and ran past Eve over to Harle, grabbing her by the shoulders.

Eve was slightly relieved as she watched Kidd, having the feeling that she knew how to deal with this strange girl. In the back of her mind she wondered what kind of relationship those two had. They way she had heard Kidd speak about Harle had sounded very close and familiar. But then again, they looked too different to be siblings…

"Just leave Eve outta this, she doesn't know what she's doin'! I'll take care of him!", Kidd said hurriedly. Harle's eyes kept their angry look.

Eve grimaced. She knew very well what she was doing. Obviously Harle was the one who didn't, attacking her like that. However, she wondered more about the way Kidd had spoken about the dragon. She had referred to the dragon as him…but it was just an animal, was it not?

Meanwhile Clair, who had simply been watching this whole scene motionlessly, looked back and forth between Eve and the others and the dragon. Everyone seemed to know exactly what they were doing. It made her feel out of place. And scared.

Clair's heart was beating fast and she dreaded the first step of the dragon, but up until now, it had hardly moved, even though the cage was wide open. Clair guessed it could have already killed them all if it had wanted to, but it hadn't. The dragon didn't even look especially angry or evil, and Clair just started to believe that Eve had been right after all, when she heard a familiar voice.

"Well, well. Seems like I got here a little late." At the sound of his voice, everyone turned around abruptly. Kidd even let go of Harle's shoulder, recognizing this voice in an instant. It was Viper.

"What the hell are ya up ta, Viper?", she yelled and took a few steps towards him. Her voice was strong and angry, hiding Kidd's surprise at his sudden appearance. She hadn't known that Viper had been on this ship as well, and even if she had, she would have thought that he was somewhere locked up in his cabin until the fight was over. But now it seemed as if he was the one responsible for the cage mechanism and the dragon. Bastard.

"Isn't that obvious, my ladies?", Viper asked with a voice so sickeningly friendly sounding that Kidd could hardly bear it. But his voice soon took a downturn as he continued. "I'll crush you and your whole ship for daring to steal from me!" He stood proudly, a wicked smile on his face.

"Oi, seems these bloody maps are actually worth somethin'. Can't wait ta see what you're hidin'!", Kidd spat back triumphantly, trying to sound unimpressed. She was thankful for the fact that Viper was still standing a few metres away from her, or otherwise he would have noticed the pearls of sweat on her forehead and her quick breathing. Because when she was honest with herself, she was getting highly uncomfortable. There was the dragon, who would already be bad enough by himself. Then there was the rest of the crew, who had to be fighting for their lives right now, with the odds against them and neither her or Harle to help them win this already risky battle. And now there was Viper, who was a strong enemy to deal with. He was old, but far from weak and immobile.

And of course, Harle too. Kidd knew that those eyes were bad news, and she'd rather not remember the last time she had seen them. Kidd didn't exactly know why Harle became like that, but it had to do with her being a dragon. This unrepressed anger and all this hate radiating from her eyes…it wasn't her usual self. It was something different, dragon-like. At least Kidd liked to think that.

"I'm afraid you won't live to see it.", Viper said self-confidently, running his hand through his long hair. Looking over to the dragon, he finally shouted: "Kill them!"

And just as if the dragon had waited for this, he walked forward, snorting angrily at Kidd and Harle. Now that he had gotten out of his cage and stood upright, he seemed bigger than before. More threatening.

Harle, who had been trying to compose herself now gave in to her anger and dashed forward. Kidd tried to grab her wrist but was too slow to stop her. Harle was out to kill, no matter the cost. Her eyes showed it clearly. She wanted to crush him, make him feel the pain she had endured for so long. She wanted him to pay. And Kidd could do nothing to stop her.

Staring incredulously, she watched Harle leap high into the air, throwing all her cards at once. The cards flew rapidly through the air, all aimed for the dragon's head. However, the dragon simply lifted his paw to shield his eyes, blocking every single card with ease. The cards couldn't even penetrate the thick layer of scales, every single one dropping to the ground.

Shortly after, Harle reached the ground again, gritting her teeth as she pulled out the next ten cards. Just because the dragon had overcome her first attack didn't mean he had a weak spot. And she would find it, definitely.

Kidd now stood beside her, gripping her dagger firmly with both of her hands. It was just a dragon. They had killed him already once, and they would be able to do it again. So there was nothing to fear. It was just a dragon.

This time, both of them charged the dragon simultaneously. Just like before, Harle attacked from the front again, while Kidd would try stabbing him right into the chest once he lifted his paw again to block the cards. He would be too slow to bring his paw down in time.

Again, Harle flung her cards at the dragon, and just like before, the dragon stopped them easily. Kidd, who had expected this, raised her dagger and ran towards the now open chest of the dragon.

However, just as she was about to pierce into his flesh, the dragon swung his tail and tossed Kidd several metres backwards. She met the hard floor with a scream, feeling something break within her. Harle reached the ground shortly after, watching Kidd in shock. For a moment her eyes lost their glow, but as soon as Kidd moved to stand up again, they flared up, even brighter than before.

"Zat iz enough…", she mumbled angrily, her fists trembling. How dared he doing this to Kidd. She had nothing to do with it, he just wanted her. She wouldn't let him do this twice.

By the time Kidd managed to stand up again, Harle was already attacking the dragon again. This time with her bare fists.

"Harle, no!", was all Kidd managed to shout as Harle charged the dragon. She jumped forward, and as the times before, the dragon lifted his paw. Only this time there were no cards. Harle hit his paw with full force, resulting in an audible crack. The dragon howled and withdrew his paw.

Kidd watched her friend in awe and shock. Harle possessed a strength she had never known her to have. A strength not fitting her lithe and small body. A strength so inhuman.

Harle herself simply smiled at the dragon, a look in her eyes as if she were looking down on him, even though the dragon was easily twice as tall.

The dragon swung his tail at her, no infuriated. Harle dodged it quickly, already leaping up again to attack. The dragon, however, wasn't fooled again. He didn't rely on mere defence anymore. Instead, he caught the other girl in mid-air and thrust her to the ground with a loud thud.

"Viper! You have to stop this!", Eve gasped as she shot a glance to her side, seeing that both Kidd and Harle were lying on the ground. However, she didn't have much more time to concern herself with them, for Viper continued to attack her with his sword.

He had attacked her out of the blue, just when the dragon had started moving. She hadn't wanted this. At all.

It was one slash after the other, without break. And Eve was starting to think that he was just playing with her. He was just too strong. Every time she tried to strike, Viper merely side-stepped or met her blade with his, just using one arm, while the other pushed her to the ground. It was useless.

"Stop this? It's merely starting!", Viper said and laughed madly. Another parry. "You know, it's quite sad to lose a soldier like you. You had great potential.", he added.

"Don't make me laugh!", Eve yelled and attacked with a vertical slash, putting all her strength into it. Viper however simply moved to the side and sent Eve to the ground by hitting her neck with his elbow. Eve gasped but didn't have much time to react. As soon as she reached the ground, she quickly rolled aside, just in time to avoid the otherwise lethal stab from Viper.

Standing up again, she was greeted with another row of attacks. Tears of frustration welled up in her eyes as she desperately tried to counter every one of them. She didn't stand a chance against him, as much as she hated to admit it.

Meanwhile, Clair simply stared at them in a daze. Everything was happening so fast, she didn't know what to do. She wanted to help, but her body wouldn't move. Her eyes simply darted from the dragon to Viper and back. Her mind was spinning with doubts of herself and her legs were growing weaker with every passing second.

The dragon, how was she supposed to fight such a thing? She had never seen one before in her entire life!

And Eve…she wanted to help her fight Viper, but she wouldn't be of any help at all. She knew she didn't have enough skill with a sword to be of much use against an enemy like Viper, but she couldn't use her rod either. A rod just worked well against groups of enemies, for which she didn't even have to aim to hit them all at one point or another. But this fight with Viper and Eve was completely different. Her rod was too heavy and hard to handle to differentiate between allies and enemies. Sooner or later, she would hit Eve instead of Viper. And she knew she wouldn't live to regret it.

Her eyes darted in all directions, trying to find a way. She knew she was panicking, but found herself unable to calm down. As another shot of a cannon reached her ears, Clair decided upon the only option left: She ran.

* * *

"Damn, where are all these bloody soldiers comin' from?", the captain shouted, kicking an attacking soldier square into his stomach while parrying a blow from another. 

"They're coming from downstairs!", Jack puffed, having quite a few difficulties to get rid of his share of soldiers as well. The Radical Dreamers had spread out into six groups of two, each trying to block the corridors to stop the opposing soldiers to get onto to the upper deck, from where they could leap over to their ship all too easily. However, the odds were against them. For every soldier they defeated, three other seemed to appear.

And Jack wasn't the first one to think that this was a hopeless battle.

"Bugger! The others better hurry up with the cannons!", the captain grumbled as he pierced his sword through the thigh of the soldier before him, causing him to scream and tumble to the ground.

"Which ones?", Jack asked absent-mindedly as he disposed of the last soldier to his left by ramming the hilt of his sword deep into his stomach. It wasn't really his own sword for he usually used throwing knives, but they had proved themselves too ineffective in close range combat like this.

"Both!", the captain snapped irritated as he indicated Jack to follow him deeper into the ship.

* * *

'_You ran away.'_

'I couldn't do anything.'

'_You could've helped Eve.'_

'I couldn't…'

'_Viper might kill her.'_

'He won't…'

'_You left her alone, Clair.'_

'I didn't...'

'_She trusted you…believed in you.'_

'She can do it alone!'

'_You ran away.'_

Tears ran freely down her cheeks as she dashed down the stairs and along the corridors. How did this all happen? Just a few days ago, she had been a proud Viper soldier. She had worked so hard in the past to achieve this goal. But now? She had merely been a soldier for a little more than a year and she was already about to end it. She was just nineteen years old, and she had already wrecked her own life so badly.

It had all begun when Eve had come back from her mission. It was then that they had started mistrusting Viper and collecting information about his doings. It was then that things had really gotten out of hand in her quiet, peaceful life. And now she was here, risking her life for people she didn't know, didn't even want to know, all because of Eve.

But no, she didn't blame her. She never would. Clair knew how badly she had wanted to help Eve. They were roommates after all. Friends. But Clair knew best that this alone was hardly a reason to go to those extends for her.

Strands of dark-brown hair got into her face as she ran along the corridors, blurring her view. She didn't care, however. There was only one thing left she could do.

She didn't care much about the three soldiers appearing in front of her. The first one let out a surprised gasp as one end of Clair's rod hit his face, twisting his neck at a dangerous angle. The next soldier met the same fate as the other end of the rod hit him. They both stumbled backwards, leaving the last of them alone to face Clair's sword, which all too soon had hit his own sword out of his grasp, leaving him without any means of protection as Clair pierced through his shoulder without effort.

Thus having cleared her way for the time being, Clair continued to run along the corridors. She could hear battle cries from all sides and hoped that the people from the other ship could put up against the soldiers, who all but outnumbered them.

But from what she saw, things were going well enough. The corridors were already littered with bodies, all of whom Clair completely ignored despite their desperate pleas for help from their supposed ally. She had no time for this. It was their fault for obeying Viper. Now it was her turn to try ending this whole mess as soon as possible.

* * *

Once again, her attack had been futile. It was unbelievable how the dragon seemed to be completely unperturbed by every attack she or Harle started. 

She had tried countless times by now but the dragon had parried every single attack.

"Harle! We have to think of somethin'!", Kidd shouted as she leapt to the side to evade the dragon's tail once again.

However, Harle didn't listen. Instead she charged the dragon with a roar, only to be thrown backwards once again. Kidd could hardly bear looking at it anymore. Every time that damned dragon thrust her to the ground made her run over to her and help her, but because of the continuous attacks of that beast, Kidd had her hands full just saving her own life.

This couldn't go on like this. Sooner or later they would lose concentration and strength to evade the dragon's attacks any longer. His continuous attacks didn't seem to stop anytime soon.

"Stop it, Harle! It's no use!", Kidd shouted desperately, but to no avail. Harle weakly stood up again, but still bore the same angry look. Her fists were clenched and her teeth gritted. She didn't look like someone who even considered the idea of giving up or losing hope.

Kidd marvelled at Harle's willpower and endurance, but she knew that if she didn't end this soon, Harle wouldn't survive this. She already had countless cuts and bruises all over her body and it seemed as if those flaring eyes were everything that still kept her standing. Her eyes were still the same, but the strength she had been radiating was gone. Kidd truly pitied her.

She wanted so much that these damned dragons were gone, so much that she was willing to fight bare-handed…but it was no use. Even her inhuman strength hadn't been enough to beat him. And Kidd was starting to believe that there was no way of defeating him.

But then the thought struck her that she should have gotten long before. Elements. She hadn't considered them until now because she simply didn't have the time to cast an element, with those steady attacks of the dragon. But it was possible. However, a sacrifice would have to be made.

The dragon tried to grab Kidd with his paw but she evaded the attack with a back flip. She already regretted it from the bottom of her heart, but she didn't see any other way any more. She had no control over Harle, couldn't tell her to stop…and she hated herself for even thinking for a moment that this might be for the better.

While evading the next few attacks, Kidd made sure to move into the opposite direction of Harle and also as far away from the dragon as possible. Of course the dragon noticed and walked towards her. That was when Harle attacked, shouting in fury.

The dragon couldn't help but stop and deal with Harle first, which seemed as easy as the countless times before. He simply swung his tail and whirled her into the air, already focusing his attention back on Kidd.

But it was too late. Even though her face was streaked with tears, she tried to concentrate on the element. After endless seconds, she finally succeeded in casting it. As soon as she saw the photon beams crashing down from the sky, she ran, not caring about the dragon anymore. She just ran, hoping that it wasn't too late already. As she reached the limp form on the ground, her tears started to fall.

* * *

She had done it. Stopped eight soldiers, all of whom now lay sprawled on the ground. Wounded or dead, she couldn't tell. Didn't want to know. They had been too surprised, like the other soldiers she had encountered on the way. Not even readying their weapons as she entered the room. They had trusted her to be on their side. Clair wondered if she would ever be betrayed like that. 

At least the cannons wouldn't be a problem anymore. Nobody was there to fire them. And as long as nobody else knew of this, no replacement would come.

Looking around the room, she regarded the number of cannon balls for each of the four cannons. Only four shots had been fired, apparently only from the second and third cannon. She knew the first shot had missed. The second one had struck a mast on the other ship. The third one she had merely heard. The fourth one had gone unnoticed.

Two cannon balls wouldn't be enough to sink a ship. In most cases. If the lowest deck of the other deck wasn't divided however, it just might have been enough. But not many ships had this extraordinarily weak spot. It would destroy the whole concept of a battle ship. But then…what had Eve told her?

Clair racked her brain to remember the details but with little success. She would have to go and look for herself. The Longinus One was first and foremost a ship used for transport, so a large storeroom was necessary. If that storeroom happened to be on the lowest deck, this alone could decide the outcome of this uneven battle.

With a determined look on her face, Clair turned to leave the room. There was nothing to do here anymore. However, just as she attempted to step through the door, something firm got hold of her right ankle, stopping her immediately. As she looked down to regard it, she saw that it was a hand, trembling with pain.

Her eyes twitched with dread as she turned to regard the soldier whom the hand belonged to.

"Why…why are you doing this?", a weak voice asked even before Clair had the time to regard the soldier. But as she did, she gasped in shock, shaking her head.

"Randal?", she whispered incredulously, her voice high and quavering. She regarded him more closely, even though she could hardly bear the sight of him. Blood ran down on the left side of his face, just barely missing the expressionless eyes. Looking away from his face, she saw a pool of blood emerging from underneath his chest.

She hadn't even recognized him. As she had entered this room, most of the soldiers didn't look at her, thinking she was on their side. So she had merely attacked them from behind, the easiest way to deal with this many people at once. And the dirtiest as well.

"Why are you doing...this?", Randal repeated, sounding weaker than before. By the look of it, he would die of blood loss soon, Eve thought grimly as she stared down at him.

"Why?", Randal asked again and coughed, his grip on Clair's ankle loosening.

"Because you're on the wrong side.", Clair squeaked, her lips trembling. Tears welled up in her eyes, but she turned around before they fell. She hated herself for wavering, but it was only now that she fully realized what had happened.

"You…should have told us…", Randal managed to say between his coughs. Surely Clair had stabbed his lungs as well.

Clair couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't have simply told them! Nobody would have listened to her…everyone just following Viper's orders.

'_You could have at least tried. They didn't know they were on the wrong side. It wasn't their fault.'_

'Nobody would have listened! They would have killed me!'

'_But you were the one preaching about avoiding casualties.'_

'There was no other way!'

'_No, you were scared. Backstabbing is all you're good at.'_

'No!'

Clair's hands quivered as she took out an element, attempting to cast it on Randal, who was now lying behind her, still coughing weakly.

This was the least she could do for him now. A small sob escaped her lips as she cast it before running out the door, away from Randal.

* * *

"Damn you, Viper!", Eve yelled, kicking him into his stomach. To her surprise, Viper didn't mind it all, as if she had just kicked an iron shield. In the back of her mind, Eve wondered what kind of armour he wore, but was snapped back to reality as Viper gripped her feet with which she had just kicked him and spun her around until she crashed into the rail behind her. 

Eve hissed in pain as she stood up again. Damn. He wasn't playing with her anymore. Ever since she had managed to scratch his face with her sword, thus creating a cut that ran from his forehead all the way down to the corner of his mouth, Viper had been a lot more serious than before.

But Eve couldn't give up now. She had almost done it once, so she should be able to do it again. However, the pain in her neck from Viper's first hit and one presumably broken rib made this battle harder with every passing second. Her vision was already getting blurry from exhaustion and she didn't know how much longer she would be able to last.

Viper on the other hand was barely sweating, and still bore that disgusting smile of his. He also didn't leave her much time to recover from the last attack, already raising his sword again. Eve grunted as she got ready, trying to think of the best way to escape this sharp blade. She could fend it off, but that required a lot of strength, and would probably bring her down to her knees anyway.

So she decided on a rather risky attempt. As the blade came down, she met it from the side instead of the more secure way of blocking it from underneath.

Her eyes widened as Viper's sword didn't seem to halt and merely gliding down along Eve's sword, hitting the hilt. Realizing this was now or never, she put all her strength into her arms and pushed her sword even harder against the other.

Finally it broke, the tip of the blade whirling to the side only a few centimetres in front of Eve's eyes.

For a moment Eve wasn't sure who it belonged to, and had to look at her sword to be certain. It was Viper's. The blade of her own sword seemed unscratched and still shone in every colour. So Kidd hadn't lied when she had said that this sword was almost indestructible. And Eve was endlessly grateful for that.

As she noticed the sharp intake of breath, Eve looked up to Viper, shock written all over his face. Without saying a word she pierced his right upper arm and his right knee with the next strike, which made a disgusting sound Eve would have preferred not to hear.

However, as she looked down at him and saw how desperately he tried to crawl backwards, she knew it was necessary.

Leaning down, she picked up the broken blade and threw it over board, just in case Viper got any bad ideas.

"You actually deserve to die, but I want you to see the end of this. You will regret every minute of your life while drowning along with this ship.", Eve said icily, a look of utter hatred on her face.

Viper merely whimpered at this, trying to stand up despite his injuries. However, as soon as he stood, clutching the rail for support, Eve harshly beat him to the ground again.

"You'd better sit. I don't want you to pass out before you've seen the best part.", Eve said, a wicked smile appearing on her lips. But before Viper could say anything, Eve was gone from his view, probably heading for the cabin in the middle of the ship.

After Eve had shut the door behind her, she took a deep breath to calm herself. She couldn't believe what she had done just know, but there was no time to be impressed about that. She had to think of what to do next.

Her first thought was to help Kidd and Harle, or at least see how they were faring. In her fight with Viper she had unwillingly distanced herself from them more and more, always walking backwards to escape Viper's blows. And because of the large cabin in the middle, which contained the two walkways which lead downstairs and a now obviously deserted navigation room, she couldn't see the other side of the ship.

As she caught her breath, Eve wondered what all those soldiers were doing. There had to be at least sixty men on board, if not more. But still, none of them had come up yet. And even though Eve had no knowledge of these things, she doubted that they needed this much time to get a gun from the lowest deck and load them. She hadn't tried it herself until now, but to her it seemed like a matter of a few minutes. But surely Clair knew more about this than her.

Clair. Eve suddenly gasped, having all but forgotten about her friend while battling Viper. Where could she have gone? Eve remembered Clair defending her against Kidd, but she couldn't remember since when Clair was gone. Kidd and her friend had fought the dragon and she had dealt with Viper. Closing her eyes for a moment, she concentrated on what she knew. Clair couldn't have simply disappeared.

Finally she remembered. The sounds of running, which definitely belonged to someone who wore the same boots she did, which could only be a soldier like her. Clair. She also remembered a door being opened with a squeak.

Eve didn't waste a second thought before she dashed down the stairs. As much as she would have liked to help Kidd and Harle, she had to find Clair first.

As she reached the first corridor, she saw various bodies lying on the ground, most of them hurt, a few unconscious…or dead. Eve gulped as she passed them in a rush, surprised to see that they were all soldiers. No signs of pirates or anyone without a uniform at all.

* * *

Jack walked along the corridors, slowly, steadily. His breathing was quick and his eyes darted around anxiously. In his right hand he held the sword he had taken from one of the soldiers, in his left a few throwing knives. He was scared. 

He had parted with the captain just a few minutes ago. They had reached a junction, leading in two directions. Having no idea where the soldiers would come from, they had decided to follow each way separately. Whenever one would reach a dead end, he was to return to the other.

Jack had thought that this was a really bad idea. Probably without him noticing, the captain had saved Jack's life countless times already back there. And now he was alone. But he knew that this was necessary. They couldn't risk any soldier to reach the upper deck and leap over to their ship. Their friends they had left behind to fire the cannons wouldn't be able to protect themselves. Most of them were well-trained sailors, but still without much fighting experience. Whenever, new people joined the Radical Dreamers, they were first trained in the field that was needed the most.

Jack was unspeakably relieved when he eventually reached a dead end. The way unmistakably stopped here. There was a door, however. Jack slowly walked towards it, pearls of sweat forming on his forehead. He couldn't turn back before he had seen what was inside. It wasn't mere curiosity. Maybe there was something useful to find there. Maps, weapons, any kind of information at all.

He leaned closely to the door, checking for any voices from inside. There were none. With a shuddering sigh he laid his hand on the handle, pushing it down slowly.

The door opened with a low creak and Jack let himself in, carefully closing the door behind him. Looking around, he couldn't quite hide his surprise. The room was well furnished and the countless silvery decorations on the chairs and desk told him that this wasn't an ordinary room.

Someone important worked here, he thought as he scanned through the sheets on the desk. Letters with seals on them, blueprints.

He was just about to open the drawers when he felt a sharp pain in his neck, causing him to stumble to the ground unwillingly. He passed out even before he reached the ground.

Behind him stood a tall woman, chuckling evilly. Closing the drawers again, she looked down at him, her grin widening. She threw aside the injection needle she had just used and grabbed the limp young man under his arms, heaving him into one of the chairs. After a few moments of searching, she found a few metres of rope with which she tied the man, even though she knew it wasn't necessary. Her doses were always exact and she had plenty left to keep the boy sleeping for three full days. But still, she wasn't a person who blindly relied on such things. And besides, there wasn't anything else to do. She had to wait for him to return. He decided on such things, and even though she disliked it, she had to obey him still. But she already looked forward to the time when her influence on him was big enough to completely manipulate him. It had worked well enough so far. She had given him the feeling of might and power, without him noticing that he was actually doing just what she wanted him to do.

Just as she finished tying the ropes around the boy's hands and feet, the door opened abruptly. She knew who it was without looking. Standing upright, she faced him, absent-mindedly pushing her glasses a little upward to see him clearly.

"You don't look good." She spoke slowly, carefully pronouncing each syllable. But even though they were slow, her words carried the usual cool tone as well as her indifference to the situation. Viper noticed this and merely grunted in response.

With slow, dragged steps he carried himself past her and over to a nearby chair, sitting down weakly. The woman noticed the trail of blood he left behind, and suppressed an amused smile.

As he caught his breath, Viper began fumbling with one of his drawers, taking out a few elements he had stored there. The woman smiled as she looked at them, recognizing them as Heal elements.

"Who's that?", he asked after casting one of the Heal elements on himself. The effect wasn't as good as he had expected, but it eased a lot of his pain. He still cursed himself for only having carried one of those with him. He had cast it as soon as Eve had left him, but it hadn't nearly been enough to fully restore his knee.

"Someone who happened to come here." Again, she spoke slowly, her answer ever elusive.

Viper scrutinized Jack, his fingers tapping on his desk. "Maybe he can be of use to us, we'll take him with us."

The woman watched him curiously as he stood up and took a few things out of his drawers and cupboards, putting them into the various pockets of his long, black coat he always wore. "We have to leave soon."

The woman noticed the angry look on his face as he said this and simply nodded, gathering a few small bottles, needles and ampoules from the cupboard next to her.

Viper cast another Heal element on himself, draining his stamina in the process. But at least the pain had receded to a numb throbbing, enabling Viper to walk almost normally, albeit weakly. "Let's go.", he said, already opening the door.

The woman just followed silently.

* * *

"What the hell are ya!", Kidd shouted with look full of hatred and shock. She was desperate now, and talking some sense into the dragon didn't seem like the worst thing to do anymore. In reality, it was the only one left. Nothing had worked up until now. Physical attacks had been merely shrugged off, and even the PhotonBeam element hadn't worked, even though it should have been impossible for a black innate enemy to simply overcome an attack with a white element. Kidd had to admit that PhotonBeam wasn't exactly a strong element, but it was the only white one she possessed. She was already bad enough with elements of other colours than red, but white and black were among the worst. 

But those thoughts aside, the dragon should have shown some kind of reaction, but the attack hadn't bothered him in the least. And too late had Kidd realized that the price she had paid had been too high.

Harle laid a few metres behind her, Kidd trying to protect her motionless body till the end. She hadn't moved ever since the last attack and Kidd tried not to think about the very real possibility that her most precious person was dead. She had wanted to defeat the dragon instead of protecting Harle. She didn't know why she had even considered such a thing, but it was too late now. The price had been paid. And it was all her fault.

"What kind of monster are ya? Why are ya doin' all this?", Kidd cried, her whole body shaking. Ever since Kidd's last attack, neither of them had moved to attack. They just stood, staring into each other's eyes. And just for a moment Kidd thought that the dragon's eyes seemed just as lost as she felt herself. "Why us?", she asked, her voice reduced to a weak whimper. She had no strength anymore. Her legs were already trembling, begging for rest, but she refused to let them have their way just yet.

The dragon didn't answer, he just stared. His eyes lost their dangerous glint, as if the dragon was really thinking about what Kidd had asked.

"Ya don't know what ta say, huh? I bet ya don't even know why you're doin' this yerself. Bastard.", Kidd said finally, looking at him. However, she didn't meet his eyes, for he was facing the ground. If Kidd didn't know better, she would assume he was feeling guilty. But that would just not work for her. She wouldn't let her guard down because of his antics, only to be caught off guard at his next attack. No. She was prepared. Even though she had no clue as to what she would do when that time came.

"Answer already! Ya weren't so shy the last time we met.", Kidd snapped, now irritated. She was prepared for long talks of him, doing the usual mind games. She had expected talks about how evil humans were. But this...it was highly disturbing and Kidd had now idea how to deal with it.

The dragon didn't answer. But what he did next, came just as unexpected. Before Kidd could react, the dragon spread his wings. He stretched them wide out, as wide as they could possibly reach.

Kidd gaped. Those wings...they were huge. Gigantic. Different. Kidd had to turn her head to the side to see just how far they reached. She didn't remember the dragon's wings to be this wide. But that wasn't the only thing. Kidd was even more surprised at the way the wings looked. They weren't black.

Kidd tried to look at them more closely, but they were reflecting the sun so strongly that she could hardly see anything. She squinted harder, wanting to find out. The wings looked as if they were streaked with long metal bars. However, she couldn't see where they met. They seemed to naturally emerge from the flesh, as if they were raw bones. In between there were plates which looked like they were made of copper. Again, they weren't especially connected. They were embedded into the skin, as if they belonged there naturally. This strange fusion of skin and metal made Kidd's breathing come to halt.

"So this is...who you are...?", Kidd gasped out before she sank down to her knees. This was too much for her. It only took a few seconds until she passed out, the dragon just watching her sadly. After a few moments, he drew in his wings, back to their normal look. Back to his appearance of an ordinary dragon. If there ever was one.

* * *

The battle cries had died down considerably. Probably because hardly anyone was left, Clair guessed. On her way down to the lowest deck she had passed a lot more wounded people than she had anticipated to see. Not few of them were her doing. Clair wanted to laugh, but a sob was all that escaped her lips. 

How foolish to save one man when she had wounded or killed so many others. She didn't even like him. But just remembering how kindly he had offered to help Eve get a room was enough to shatter her wall of indifference. It was foolish. Helping one didn't make her guilt go away. Maybe he would die anyway, she would never know. She doubted she would see him ever again.

Now that she had reached the lowest deck, her suspicions were confirmed. The deck wasn't divided. Clair scanned the area, finding no people left. They must have all gone upwards. Clair nodded to herself. It could work. She had passed a few pirates on her way down here, all of whom struggling with the remaining soldiers. They would have enough time to escape, Clair guessed.

She walked through the dim room, searching for a box with guns. There had to be at least one left. And one would be enough. The wooden walls were thick, but they would be useless against what she had in mind.

After a few moments of silent searching, she had found what she was looking for. There were even a few bags with bullets and gunpowder left. She took the weapon into her hands, carefully inspecting it. She loaded the gun slowly. One shot would be enough. Walking away from the box which contained the guns, she reached three barrels, each of them filled with gunpowder for the cannons. She had known they would be down here. After all, the guns were down here too.

There were fewer barrels than she had expected, but they would still be enough, Clair guessed. She rolled the barrels over to the wall farthest from the door, which was more strenuous than she had expected. But after a few minutes, she had rolled each barrel over to the wall, placing them as close to each other as possible. With one last look at them, she walked back to the door, grabbing the loaded gun she had left there.

She felt dread at what she was about to do, but it seemed like the only way. As long as this ship existed, the battle wouldn't end. One side had to win no matter what. And she was determined to fight for the pirates, as much as this thought felt wrong to her. And even if her first impression of this Kidd person wasn't a really good one. She thought of her as rude, aggressive and incontrollable. But Eve had spoken so nicely of her, so Clair tried to believe her.

But ever since this had started, Clair's worries had grown gradually. As much as she tried to believe in what Eve had said, as much as she wanted to believe that the pirates weren't bad, she felt her doubts were growing stronger. And now, that she was here, she was so afraid. Her doing would change so much in this battle. She had to do it while the soldiers were wounded or busy dealing with the pirates. She couldn't risk them getting the upper hand. But what if her decision was wrong?

"Eve...I hope you know that I'm doing this for you.", Clair whispered, aiming her gun on the barrel at the far end of the room. Exhaling deeply, she counted to ten. Then she pulled the trigger.

As soon as she heard the click of the trigger, she felt a sharp pain. The air left her lungs for a moment as she saw the gun in her hands being pushed to the side. Then she tumbled to the ground, dropping the gun she was holding. As she looked up again, she saw a man above her, a soldier.

"I have no idea why you are doing this, but I won't let it happen.", he said coolly, clenching his fists. He looked angry.

Clair guessed she didn't have to try to convince him that she was on his side. He saw her shoot, even though this shot had missed.

So instead she tried to stand up and run away, to gain distance between them. Her rod was still strapped onto her back, so she shouldn't have any problems with him. However, just as she moved a little forward to stand up, the soldier reached out and backhanded her so hard it threw her to the ground. It made her dizzy.

Damn. She should have searched more thoroughly. Being surprised by a soldier was the least thing she could use right now.

Clair just wanted to open her mouth to speak when the soldier grabbed her by her shoulder-length hair, forcing her to stand up. Clair winced as he pushed her across the room. Several times she tried to kick him and struggle free, but the soldier was stronger than her, gripping her firmly.

"Is that how you treat a fellow soldier, much less a woman?", Clair gasped, almost crying in pain as the soldier just pulled harder. With his right hand he held both of her hands tightly behind her back, while his left hand had a firm hold of her hair.

"You weren't exactly nice to my comrades either.", the man simply said and pushed her forward. Clair could only look at the ceiling, for her head was arched back as much as she could, in a futile attempt to ease the pain. So he must have followed her. Must have been watching her. She wondered who this man was, who, at a time of war, obviously had enough time to follow fellow soldier out of mere suspicion instead of helping his mates.

As they reached the opposite wall, the soldier pushed her against it face first, quickly tying her hands together, then her feet. Just as Clair thought he would leave her alone now that she was defenceless, he rammed his elbow into her stomach, bringing her down to her knees.

"I'll deal with you later." With that, the soldier left. Clair didn't hear, for she was already unconscious.

* * *

Eve ran along the corridors hurriedly, trying to avoid getting into fights. The pirates seemed to handle their opponents very well, distracting them enough for Eve to slip past them. 

She had already searched through the first two decks, but to no avail. There was no trace of her friend. With dread she thought about what Kidd had said to her mates. She had warned them not to go to the lower decks, for her crew would be trying to strike there with their cannons. Surprisingly enough, though, none had hit the Longinus One yet.

Eve let out a sigh of relief as she went down to the next deck, which was the second last. As expected, there were no soldiers or pirates down here anymore. Still, she was cautious as she walked around each corner.

Then suddenly, she heard soft footsteps behind her, startling her. With drawn sword she turned around, prepared to fight anyone who tried to stop her. However, all she met was nothingness. And silence. She listened a few moments, expecting to hear something, but the only sounds came from above her.

Turning around again, she shrugged, deciding to let it go and continue her search. However, the same moment she set her foot to the ground to walk, the floor and walls started shaking, and if Eve weren't aware that she was on a ship, she would have thought it was an earthquake.

Together with the shaking came a loud noise, one she had never heard before. It was somewhat muffled but undeniably the sound of tearing through something. It sounded like something had hit their ship. Eve's eyes widened as she realized that the sound came from underneath her.

She was awake with a start. A sound so loud and deafening it would have woken the dead seemed to pass directly by her ears. Her vision was a little blurry at first, but the next sound that reached her ears made her eyes widen with shock. It was the sound of water.

Frantically, Clair tried to sit up, which wasn't easy considering her hands and feet were tied together. Looking at the source of the sounds, she had to fight hard to remain conscious. Torrents of water were flooding inside through a huge hole in the wooden wall, which only got bigger due to the pressure of the water.

For a few moments, she just stared. Stared at the water level rising at a rapid rate, staring at broken pieces of wood floating on the surface of the water. She had to think of something. This ship would sink all too soon and Clair with it.

Pushing herself against the wall, she managed to stand up. She tried to wriggle her hands free, but the ropes were tied too tightly. That soldier, whoever he was, knew what he was doing. Clair started to cry in despair, trying to think of something.

She looked down, seeing that the water level had already risen up to her ankles. Only a few more minutes and the whole room would be under water. Her hands behind her back fumbled wildly until they hit against something at her side. Her sword. Clair gasped at the sight, trying to pull it out of its sheath. The movement of her arms was limited, but she eventually succeeded in doing so. However, the sword fell to the ground as soon as it was freed. Clair just heard the splat of water and looked to the ground anxiously, trying to see where it lay. As she spotted it, she knelt down, facing the opposite direction of the sword, while trying to lift up the hilt of the sword.

Finally she found it and tucked it between her feet, trying to hold it firmly. Then she reached back tentatively, trying to find the sharp blade. She winced as she did, accidentally cutting her index finger. Clair closed her eyes, concentrating. Behind her back she tried to draw her hands as much apart as possible, and then laid the rope in between them onto the blade. Rocking forward and backward, the rope slowly got thinner until she could finally tear it apart.

As she did, Clair immediately turned around and grabbed the sword, quickly freeing herself of the rope around her feet as well. Her feet hurt a little as she eventually stood up, but that was her smallest worry right know. Without thinking she moved over to the door at the other end of the room. Clair groaned as the pain in her stomach returned, dully throbbing with each step.

By now, the water already reached up to her knees and it was getting harder to move quickly. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally reached the door, grabbing the handle to pull it open. It didn't move.

Clair pulled even harder, telling herself that it was only difficult to open because of the water pushing against it, but this illusion was quickly dispelled as she realized that the door wouldn't open. It was locked.

Without realizing, Clair started shouting, banging her fists against the door. The water already touched her thighs. Her mind was spinning, analyzing every possibility that was left. Her sword wouldn't do much against this solid door, at least not within the short amount of time she had left. If the water level weren't so high already, she would have considered running against the door, ramming it with her rod. But running was impossible by now. Also, she could have used a gun to shoot the lock of the door if it weren't for the fact that all the remaining gunpowder was surely soaked by now. So her mind soon stopped coming up with more ideas, for there weren't any left.

It was too late. Within a few minutes she would be a floating corpse. But at least the ship was sinking, just like she had wanted it to. Soon Viper would get what he deserved.

Clair was content beside herself, even though the tears in her eyes wouldn't stop. At least she ship was going down, even if it wasn't her doing. Even though she hadn't achieved anything despite causing pain to those who trusted her. Even though she would never see Eve again.

She closed her eyes, leaning against the door with her back. Was Eve even still alive? She didn't know. Viper could have killed her.

'_It's your fault. You should have helped her.'_

'I know.'

'_But instead of helping someone important to you, you waste your time, thinking you could end everything alone.'_

'I know.'

'_And you don't even regret it, do you? You enjoyed fighting them, telling yourself it was all for her sake.'_

'Yes.'

The water reached up to her mouth now, and Clair silently continued to breathe through her nose. She didn't bother to stand on tiptoes, it would only gain her a few seconds more. A few seconds she would waste on thinking where she had gone wrong. A few seconds she didn't need.

It was quiet. The water had risen above the hole in the wall, and the water continued to flow in almost soundlessly. It was almost peaceful, Clair thought as she stopped breathing, waiting for the air in her lungs to run out. In front of her eyes she saw her rod floating upwards. Of course, it was made of wood. As she heard a dull knock at the door she was sure that it was only her rod, the current pushing it against the door.

The knocks continued, almost persistent. She heard a voice too, quiet and seemingly far away. It called her name.

* * *

Eve knocked against the door, calling out for her friend she wasn't even sure was in there. But this was the last place she could look. She watched the water coming from underneath the door with terror. If she opened this door, the whole corridor would be flooded. But this ship was already sinking, there was no avoiding it. She had heard the cries of many men above her, running for their lives to leave this ship as soon as possible. 

Eve ran against the door, trying to push it open, but it didn't budge. There was no other way. She had to use it.

Quickly, she took the gun which was strapped onto her back, carefully loading it, trying to remember what Clair had told her. As soon as she finished, she aimed it at the lock, hoping she wouldn't hit anything other than that.

She pulled the trigger with a sense of dread, and soon water gushed through the hole she had just made. The room had to be full of water.

Now with the lock destroyed, Eve tried to push the door open. However, as she succeeded in opening it a bit, the water flooded out rapidly and Eve almost slipped. But she continued to push harder.

Suddenly the door loosened and threw her back. A torrent of water escaped from the room and soon the water in the corridor had reached knee level.

Eve weakly tried to stand up again and held up her arms just in time to shield her from large boards and other pieces of wood that threatened to hit her face. Thus shielding her head, she didn't see the body coming that crashed into her and knocked her off her feet.

It took her a few more seconds to get out of the water and stand up to get her bearings, but when she did, she immediately grabbed the body in the water, which was threatening to flow past her, and carefully turned it around.

She had known since she had seen the long hair. It was her. But still, Eve let out a gasp, looking at the pale face of her friend. Wasting no time with thinking about how this has happened, Eve gathered her in her arms, checking her breathing.

Tears started to trickle down her already wet face as she found none. She frantically shook Clair's shoulders, doing anything to make her open her eyes, to no avail. The water around them was rising and Eve realized there was only one thing left.

She carefully lifted Clair up in her arms and started to dash through the water. Soon her legs started to hurt, but she still tried to hurry as much as she could, with the water almost reaching her thighs. Still, she reached the stairs within less than a minute and immediately ran upwards. It would take the water some time to reach the second deck, so they were safe for now.

Once up, she laid Clair onto the ground, kneeling beside her. She remembered Clair telling her once what she needed to do in case someone has stopped breathing. Eve had never tried it out.

Her fingers trembled as she quickly opened Clair's jacket, revealing the blue shirt underneath. Her hands trailed down on her chest, trying to find the spot Clair had explained to her, right between her ribs. Putting both of her hands on the spot, she began pushing them down in an even rhythm. She couldn't remember the exact number Clair had told her, so she simply decided on her lucky number, even though she didn't feel very lucky right now. After thirteen pushes, she took Clair's head into her hands, moving it slightly backwards. After taking a deep breath, she pressed her lips onto Clair's, exhaling. She had almost stopped as she felt how cold Clair's lips were. Maybe too much time had passed.

Eve looked down at Clair after she finished, waiting for a reaction. Maybe those things didn't even work. A few seconds passed, and Clair didn't start to move like she had promised people would.

"Liar...", Eve whispered and started sobbing. Clair had told her this would work. But it didn't. But Eve refused to give up. She had nothing to lose anyway. She wouldn't leave this ship without Clair. And if she were to die, Eve would blame herself for this eternally. After all, she had been the one who had tried to convince her that they had to do something against Viper. Without her, Clair wouldn't even be here. It was all her fault.

She began repeating the things she had done just now. Maybe it simply wasn't enough. Again, she pushed thirteen times. It had to work. Again, she took a deep breath and just as she was about to meet Clair's lips again, Clair started to cough, water flowing from her mouth. At first Eve was taken aback, wondering what had happened, what she had done wrong, but as Clair opened her eyes, a wide smile crossed her face.

"Eve...", Clair whispered weakly. Her eyes were dull, seemingly staring through Eve. Slowly she lifted her hand, wanting to touch her, see if she was real.

Even before her hand reached its goal, Eve took it into her own, pressing it against her warm cheek. Her cold trembled faintly, soaking up the warmth.

Clair needed a few seconds to realize what had happened, but when she did, tears ran down her cheeks.

"You scared me, you know.", Eve said softly, wiping away her tears and gently putting aside a few strands of hair that clung onto Clair's face.

Clair just smiled in return. She didn't know what to say anyway.

"And you know how much I hate it to cry in front of someone.", Eve continued as new tears welled up in her eyes.

Clair's smile just widened. Her hand was still pressed against Eve's cheek, but the touch was broken all too soon as Eve lifted her into her arms and stood up.

"We have to get out of here. The water has already reached the second deck.", Eve said, noticing the water around her feet. Clair simply nodded, her head resting on Eve's shoulder. Eve quickly headed for the stairs that led upward.

* * *

"Hurry! Pick 'em up, we have ta leap over!", the captain shouted to his men, standing at the rail. The ship of the Radical Dreamers had come very close as soon as the few remaining members on board had sighted their mates on the other ship. 

A few men threw their ropes over to the other ship and leapt over. Once on board, they took a long plank, long enough to reach from one ship to the other, and put it between them.

Next came two men, each of them carrying one of her mates. One carried Kidd, the other Harle. A few men followed, and the captain was the last to return to his ship.

"Let's get the hell outta here!", he called and a few men were already retrieving the plank when one of them suddenly shouted.

"Soldiers! Two of them!" Everyone turned their heads to see the soldiers in question. To their surprise, they were both women. And they didn't even aim their guns at them.

"Leave the plank where it is and let them on board!", the captain ordered, causing the others too look at him curiously. "Now!", he shouted fiercely.

They immediately obeyed and left the plank where it was, calling out to the women to come on board.

Eve nodded thankfully and slowly walked over the plank, holding Clair firmly. As she reached the other side, she felt the glare of the pirates, the mistrust and hatred. But she had other things to worry about. Clair needed help. She had fallen unconscious again, and Eve worried about her condition.

As Eve laid her down onto the ground, she felt that pain again. The pain she had tried to supress until now.It felt like someone stabbed her into her chest, a pain so unbearable it drained the air from her lungs. Eve clutched her chest, coughing and gasping for air, before she collapsed in front of the eyes of the pirates.

A/N#2: I don't really like this chapter myself. I'm not good with writing fighting scenes, and so many of them too. But now it's over and I'm glad I finished this battle in one chapter, even though it turned out to be ridiculously long. Anyway, thanks for reading. I hope it didn't turn out too badly and I'll see you again next chapter.


	13. Preparations

Chapter 13 – Preparations

"How are you?" She saw her face. Her lips moved, as if she was saying something. She didn't hear it, however. She felt a bit like being underwater. It took her a while to see clearly, but as she did, her gaze fell on the other woman's lips, which trembled as if she was trying not to cry.

Eve stared at Clair, now fully awakening. She touched her head weakly, a feeble attempt to stop the headache she was feeling. Clair sat at the side of the bed Eve was lying in, her lips trying to form a smile despite her urge to cry. For a few seconds, they just stared at each other, Clair's features slowly relaxing.

Eve frowned at her friend. "You should be resting."

Clair chuckled weakly at the typical behaviour of her friend. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. But what about you?"

"I'm fine." Eve sat up slightly, but immediately fell back upon feeling the pain in her chest again. She winced unwillingly, causing Clair to look at her, worry written all over her face. "It's nothing.", Eve said to reassure her friend, who didn't look convinced in the least.

"You shouldn't try to stand up just yet.", Clair said gently. "We won't reach Porre for another day anyway. Just relax."

Eve enjoyed Clair's soothing voice as she said this, almost lulling her back to sleep.

"What...happened?", Eve asked, thinking about how to express her question best. She remembered going on board of the pirate ship, but nothing after that.

"They told me you suddenly collapsed. They cast Heal elements...but you wouldn't wake up. I...everyone was worried.", Clair explained quietly, not daring to look at Eve. "They said they could only heal the wound itself, but the strain on the body remained. You slept for quite some time." Clair managed a weak smile as she looked back to Eve. Only now did Eve realize the distant look of Clair, her sad eyes.

"What's wrong, Clair?", Eve asked as she laid her hand onto Clair's. Clair didn't react. Instead, she looked away again.

"It's nothing. I'm glad you're okay.", she mumbled.

"No, tell me. What's wrong? You used to tell me everything.", Eve inquired. It wasn't like Clair to be like this.

'No...I didn't.', Clair thought grimly, standing up. "It's really nothing, don't worry. Just rest a bit, I'm going to get some fresh air.", she said as cheerfully as she could, leaving the room without a last glance to her friend.

* * *

"Hey girl.", Kidd said quietly, smiling up at Harle, who was sitting on a stool beside the bed. 

"Bon matin, mon amour.", Harle whispered and reached out her hand to caress Kidd's cheek.

"Is it mornin' already? I slept so long again.", Kidd said in surprise and sighed.

"Never mind. How are you feeling aujourd'hui?" A small smile appeared on her lips as she saw Kidd sitting up, obviously feeling fine.

"As good as new.", Kidd answered enthusiastically and stretched her arms. "What about ya?" Kidd's face darkened as she remembered what had actually happened. More than a day had passed since the battle. She had only been awake once before, and just for a few minutes. But now the memories came back, and Kidd couldn't help but feel a tinge of pain. However, a soon as Harle looked at her, she put on a smile.

"Trés bien. Mon shoulder still hurtz a bit, but it'z not'ing. Ze dragon waz simply stronger than moi t'ought." Her voice sounded almost cheery.

Dragon. Harle had said it as if it was nothing. Kidd wondered if Harle suspected the same thing she did. She hated to bring it up, but she had to know.

"The dragon...he wasn't the same, was he?", she asked hesitantly, not sure if this was the right way to put it. But to her surprise Harle nodded.

"Oui. Moi felt it. He looked so similar to him, mais...he iz not ze same. In ze end, moi knew. His eyez were so diferente.", Harle said calmly. Now she was sure. She didn't see it the first time she had encountered him. But when she had fought him...he had looked at her so strangely. At first she hadn't believed it, thought she was imagining things. But every time he had hit her, his eyes had been so full of pain. As if trying to tell her something.

She had been blind not to notice right away. She had let those emotions wash over her, making her unable to see the truth. The truth she hadn't wanted to see. But now she saw it clearly.

"He izn't one of uz.", Harle mumbled, more to herself than to Kidd.

"Yeah...", Kidd started, but didn't finish. She was lost in thought, trying to remember more about the dragon.

It all made sense now. If he really wasn't the black dragon god, that would explain a lot of things. His wings, which were so different and strange. His behaviour. Kidd had wondered why he hadn't spoken to them. Now she realized that he probably couldn't.

"Say Harle...has he...talked ta ya? Ya know...", Kidd didn't know how to put it. She knew the dragon gods had been able to speak to her. That Harle had suffered from their voices, which haunted her thoughts and dreams. They had been connected by something Kidd couldn't even begin to understand.

For a moment, Harle didn't answer, deeply in thought. "Non...", she said quietly, but her voice didn't sound sure. Harle closed her eyes for a moment, thinking. She had heard the dragons' voices shortly after she had first seen the dragon at Marbule. But now her memories were so distant and foggy, she wasn't sure anymore. She didn't know if it had been real or if it had been her imagination. She had been not the same then.

"Anyway, that thing was dangerous. We should talk ta the others about it. Maybe they know more.", Kidd suggested. "I wonder if they're awake yet. Eve looked pretty bad last time I've seen her." Just as she finished, Kidd attempted to stand up to go and check on them, but was halted by Harle's hand.

"Rezt un peu more, mon amour. Moi will talk to zem.", Harle said smilingly, her hands gently pushing Kidd back to bed. In truth, she wanted to be the first one talking to them. She wanted to apologize to Eve, whom she had attacked. She felt bad for having done such a thing. Eve had known more about the dragon than she herself had. Even though Harle should have known better.

Harle leaned down to Kidd and kissed her softly. Kidd responded eagerly, smiling at the sudden affection. She laid her arms around Harle's neck, pulling her even closer. Harle chuckled at Kidd's playful possessiveness and tried to wriggle herself free. Kidd didn't let go that easily, however.

"Ya really okay?", she asked, gently putting a loose strand of hair out of Harle's face and behind her ear. Her right hand cupped Harle's cheek, her thumb stroking it softly.

"Vraiment.", Harle said and giggled.

"Ya sure?", Kidd inquired further, attempting to close the distance between their mouths, but Harle turned her head to the side.

"Oui.", Harle answered, a teasing smile on her lips. Kidd gave her a mock frown, which soon turned into an evil smile.

"Then let's see how you're feelin' after this.", she said and pulled Harle onto the bed, holding her tightly. She showered her face with gentle kisses, while Harle just laughed and squirmed, trying to escape. Her attempts were futile, so she eventually decided upon the most reliable tactic to escape. She stopped squirming, favouring Kidd with a long kiss on the lips. Once Kidd let her defences down, Harle quickly slipped out of the bed.

"Not now.", she said and smiled teasingly, taking a step backwards as Kidd tried to grab her arms. She blew one last kiss to Kidd before she turned around and headed for the door.

Lying back down, Kidd watched Harle walk out of the room, a satisfied smile on her face. She was glad that Harle seemed to be okay. The guilt of what she had done still nagged at her mind, but she wouldn't speak to Harle about it. They all had to look forward now. There were still a lot of things that had to be done.

While Kidd was thinking about what to do next, Harle stepped outside into the cool morning air. She inhaled deeply. This could be a good day, if she wanted it to. Despite all that had happened, she felt content now, even though she wasn't sure why. She had had lost control again. Hadn't been able to stop herself. She could have done something terrible. But she was happy now.

Maybe it was because of the dragon. She had been so scared back then, but now...she had hope again. And even if her consciousness had told her countless times not to hope again, she did. Because Kidd thought the same. Harle wasn't alone, wasn't the only one to think that the dragon they had met wasn't real.

So even if this strange dragon were to be ten times stronger than the others, she still wouldn't be afraid. For he wasn't Him.

Walking along the deck, she noticed that there weren't many people out yet, and the ship was only sailing at an average speed. But it was fine with her, there wasn't a need to rush. It would be no use if they reached Porre and not everyone was in top shape.

She absent-mindedly looked to the side when a figure caught her attention. It was a woman from the looks of it, taller than herself, with dark brown hair. She stood at the rail, her back turned to Harle, looking out to the ocean. Harle thought a moment, wondering where she had seen that person before, when she remembered. She was the woman who had stood close to Eve when they all had been on the deck of Viper's ship.

"Bon matin.", Harle said, walking to stand beside the other girl. She didn't look at the woman, simply joining her in her view over the ocean.

At first the other woman was taken aback by Harle's sudden greeting and it took her a while to respond. "G...Good morning.", she said hesitantly. She looked at her, a little confused and unsure of what to do.

"Je suis Harle.", Harle said with a small smile on her lips as she met the other woman's gaze.

"I'm Clair. Nice to meet you.", Clair said and immediately felt stupid. She had met her before, and she wasn't so sure if she was really glad to meet her again. She didn't know her, but she had been the one attacking Eve.

Harle's smile faded as she saw the eyes of Clair. They looked sad, but they also bore a tinge of anger, even though Harle wasn't sure whom it was aimed at.

"Moi iz sorry. Vraiment.", Harle said apologetically. She really was sorry. Eve didn't have anything to do with it. And Harle knew that if anyone would have attacked Kidd like that, she would be angry as well.

"You should apologize to Eve. She's the one you have hurt.", Clair said rather harshly. She didn't know why she had said it like that. She wasn't really that angry with her. What Harle had done was nothing in comparison to the sins she had committed.

"Moi will do zat aussi. Mais moi wanted to apologize to you az well. You are her amie, non?", Harle asked, unperturbed by Clair's brashness.

'I really don't know.', Clair thought glumly, but out loud she said: "Yes...I am. But I don't really care about what you did. It was just a small wound. I bet she doesn't even think about that anymore." She turned her eyes towards the ocean again. She hated herself for being indifferent about things that concerned Eve, but Harle's attack on her seemed so small to her now. It was nothing. Just a superficial wound that would go away completely in a few days. She wished she could say the same about the things she had done. But most of the injuries she had caused were permanent, if not terminal.

The guilt she felt threatened to bring tears to her eyes, but she refused to let them show. How stupid would it be to cry? After all, she hadn't regretted it the moment she had done it. It had been fine with her to slaughter so many people, so why was she feeling so guilty now?

"You are trés sad.", Harle stated, breaking Clair's train of thought with an easiness that made Clair look at her with a frown.

"How...how would you know?", she asked, irritated by Harle's penetrating look. For a moment she had the feeling that the other woman could see right through her. Which was absolutely impossible. When Eve couldn't even see the most obvious things about her, how should a stranger be able to? It made no sense.

"Your eyez. Zey are sad.", Harle watched Clair intently, noting the doubtful look she gave her. "Zey mirror ze feelingz of ze owner. You can smile, oui, mais your eyez won't."

"You...you don't know me or my feelings. You have no idea what I'm feeling.", Clair said hastily, louder than she had intended. Who was this woman who acted like she knew everything?

"You hate fighting. You are sad because of ze happeningz on Viper'z bateau. You have hurt people.", Harle continued calmly.

"Don't say such things!", Clair shouted at her, the anger now more evident in her eyes. "You don't know me."

"Moi knowz ze look of people who did somet'ing despicable. Ze look of people who hate zemselves." Harle's voice was still even, although Clair gripped the rail tightly, possibly trying to refrain from slapping her. Harle didn't even know why she said these things, herself. She had just wanted to greet her, try to get to know her. She hadn't wanted to make her angry, but Harle couldn't stop herself from commenting on her eyes. It was all so obvious that it pained her to even look at them. They were full of pain, full of feelings the other woman probably never dared to show. Feelings she probably never dared to speak of. She had seen those eyes before. They were like her own had been. They were so alike that even Harle thought it was scary.

Clair was looking at her, the tears she had tried to repress now welling up in her eyes. "So? What are you going to do? I have hurt many people in this battle. People who trusted me, thought I was their comrade. I probably killed quite a few of them too." Clair's voice was bitter. "Are you satisfied now?" She faced Harle angrily.

For a moment, Harle was silent. Stunned. "No one blamez you here. Everyone here haz gone wrong at one point or ze odder. Ze important thing iz...to accept ze thingz you have done. And also...you did it for her, non? You wanted to help her?"

Clair looked at her with wide eyes. How did she know all these things? "Yes...I wanted to help...I wanted to help her." The tears ran freely now, and Clair covered her face with her hands, turning away from Harle. "I knew it was wrong...but...", she sobbed, unable to finish.

"It'z alright. If you did it for someone trés importante to you...zen it'z alright. If you fight pour one, you alwayz hurt anodder. It iz impossible to avoid." Harle noticed the questioning look Clair gave her through her tears, and tried to think of a better way to explain. "Zere iz no right or wrong. Juzt deux sidez. And both believe zey are correcte. But it'z importante to fight pour ze side you believe in. Pour toi, ze side you believe in iz right. You have done not'ing wrong.", she explained.

"You...you make it sound so easy.", Clair said, wiping away her tears, hoping no new ones would come.

"Non...it iz not. It'z trés difficile. Maybe later you will realize zat your décision was wrong...zat you find zat you fought pour...someone you don't agree wit' anymore.", Harle explained but stopped, thinking about what she had said. It really was difficult. When she had been with Lynx, she had done whatever he had said. Not because she wanted to do it for him, but because the dragons had told her to work for him, obey him as a means to get information. At the time she had believed she was right. She had hated humans and would have gladly seen them vanish from the surface of the world. But she had changed. And now it did nothing to her, knowing that she had acted of her own free will, that she had done what she had wanted to do. She still hated herself for this.

Harle took a deep breath. It was no use bothering Clair with her own doubts. Maybe her case had been different. And even though Clair might change her view on things, she had still been forced to make a decision. She had to fight for someone. And when Harle really thought about it, she had been forced too. She had agreed with the dragons, but even if she hadn't, she would have had to do something. Fight for the dragons, or fight against them. There really hadn't been much of a choice. Just that Harle had had to try both to find the one which was right for her.

"Would you be happier if you had fought pour Viper? If you had killed uz instead of zem?", Harle asked softly, not intending to sound accusing.

"...no." Clair's response sounded a bit unsure.

"So you see. People would have been hurt anywayz. Zere was no avoiding it, non? It waz zem or uz." After telling her all this, Harle wasn't sure if she had succeeded in making Clair's sorrow go away, or if she had just intensified it. However, she got her answer as their gazes met again. Clair had a smile on her lips. And this time, it reached her eyes. Maybe the pain wasn't entirely gone, but its weight might be a bit lighter now.

"Thank you...Harle.", Clair said gratefully. "You've really made me feel better. I'm sorry that I've been so mean to you at first. You're a really nice person. I guess not seeing this from the start just shows how stupid I am." Clair giggled as she said that and Harle soon joined her.

A nice person. Not many people aside from Kidd had ever said something like that to her, and it made her feel better than she would have ever expected it to. It gave her a giddy and funny sort of feeling.

"Moi iz not az nice as you t'ink moi iz. Mais...merci beaucoup anywayz." Harle smiled at the taller woman and then turned to regard the ocean again.

They didn't talk for a while, each of them enjoying the peaceful silence and gentle breeze.

"You know...", Clair said after a while, "you have a really nice accent."

* * *

They had hid it in a cave in the woods near Porre. Surely nobody would come there. She had sent it asleep, just for safety. It had already been proved that it obeyed them completely, but she still thought of it as dangerous. One would think she of all people knew how it would react, what it would do, but she didn't. 

That was the downside of what she did. She could force everything to obey her, but she couldn't control the thoughts completely. There was always room for traitorous thoughts. It still wasn't perfect. But she would make certain it would be, the next time. She still had one try left. And she would not waste it.

"What are you doing? Hurry up.", Viper called gruffly out to her. He carried the still unconscious Jack on his right shoulder, not seeming to mind the extra weight at all as he strode forward.

"J...yes.", she called and walked a bit faster. Things had not gone as planned, and she understood that he was angry. She herself hadn't expected the pirates to be this tough. But as Viper had told her, there had been traitors who had aided them.

She knew Viper didn't care much about the lives that were lost, but more about the weapons. This incident would slow his plan down considerably. She didn't really mind. She couldn't care less about his plans. Hers were going well enough.

It took them a while to reach their destination. She had been born on this continent, yet it seemed so unfamiliar to her now. It had been so long ago that she had lived here. She had spent most of her life in El Nido, working there. Back then, nothing could keep her on the Zenan mainland. There hadn't been anyone that would have needed her. And also...she needed to get away from that person. They had been so similar, but in the end, she had just been jealous of her. She still was, even though this person was dead now. She had never come back here ever since then, thinking it was best to remain in El Nido, away from her past.

They reached the manor, which was just as impressive as the other one back in El Nido, if just a bit smaller and less military looking. She liked it.

The manor was in the outskirts of Porre, still maintaining the countryside look, in contrast to the metropolitan flair of the city of Porre. Maybe the contrast was even stronger now, she couldn't even begin to imagine how Porre looked like today. She had seen glimpses of it as they had passed the city. She hadn't thought that it would look like this. But certainly, the view from the sky was different from the actual look of the city.

She felt a bit like a child, anticipating to visit this huge city. She didn't like this feeling. It was one of those she had buried long ago. Her rational mind told her that the anticipation came naturally, due to her barely going out most of the time.

There were no soldiers to greet them when they reached the gate. No guards at all. She figured Viper didn't want this mansion to look suspicious. Which was understandable, considering the plans he had with this city.

She grimaced at the thought. The old fool, never getting enough, never being satisfied. But this was also what made them similar. They both always aimed for perfectionism. And in her case, it was so close she could almost touch it.

She entered the mansion shortly after Viper. Inside, they were greeted by two soldiers, who bowed deeply in front of them, welcoming them to their temporary residence.

She had already a place in mind where she wanted to go, but she decided to wait until Viper told her to leave, as she was expected to.

"I want to see my daughter. Where is she?", Viper asked, his voice considerably softening as he said this. She made a face. He was such a ruthless bastard but when it came to Riddel, he played the saint. It was disgusting.

But she could also understand it. Riddel was so pure, so innocent. So clueless it was unreal. She didn't think Riddel could bear knowing what her father was doing. But she would, eventually. And she already felt sorry for her.

Viper handed the boy he had carried up until now to one of the two soldiers, the other one leading them upstairs, to Riddel's room. Something in her stomach tightened. She didn't want to see her. No. She couldn't bear seeing her now. Her heart beat furiously as they came to a halt. She patiently waited for him to send her away, to tell her she should go away. To order anything that would save her from seeing Riddel.

Viper turned the doorknob and was just about to step into the room when he remembered the woman standing behind her. "You can go to your room. I expect to see you tomorrow morning."

She nodded, not showing the tremendous amount of relief she felt. She briskly walked off, down to the basement where she expected her room, and workplace to be.

Viper didn't waste another look after her and opened the door in front of him widely, a smile on his lips as he spotted his beautiful daughter. Riddel was sitting by the window and stared outside, watching the sun set. A sigh escaped her lips as her eyes wandered along the skyline of Porre, almost hidden behind rows of trees which surrounded the manor. She was too lost in thought to notice Viper right away, and was considerably surprised as he suddenly spoke up.

"How are you feeling, my dear?", he asked softly, causing Riddel to turn her head abruptly, staring at him wide-eyed.

"Father!", she exclaimed as she rose from her chair, walking towards him with spread arms. "I didn't expect to see you today. Didn't you say you were arriving tomorrow?", she asked excitedly, hugging him.

"Yes...the weather was fair so the ship made it faster than expected.", he explained with a content smile, hiding the anger he felt completely. He let go of his daughter, regarding her intently.

"You look pale. Do you feel alright?", he asked worriedly.

Riddel's smile fell slightly, so she looked to the side. "It's nothing, father. It must be the dim light." She didn't want to burden him. After all, he did everything for her. It wasn't his fault.

"Well then, I still have work to do. I'll see you at dinner, then?", Viper asked, already walking towards the door.

"Of course, father.", Riddel replied silently as he shut the door behind him. Riddel was just about to return to her chair as the door opened again.

"Have you thought about what I said to you last week?", Viper asked, not looking at her.

"Not yet, father.", Riddel sighed.

"Well then, see you at dinner." The door shut again. Riddel stood in silence for a few moments, before she went back to the window. Only a few minutes. But the sun had almost set. She watched the few remaining beams of light drown behind the trees.

She knew what her father had been referring to. One week ago, he had once again asked her about her plans of marriage. He thought it was just the right time.

And indeed. What better time to marry was there for a rich and spoiled daughter of twenty-five? No. Maybe it was already too late. Riddel knew Viper had initially expected her to marry Dario. But that was long ago. Dario was dead and ever since then, Riddel hadn't been able to have such strong feelings for someone again. Maybe she was scared that she would lose this person again.

No, that was a foolish thing to think. It was just that she had yet to encounter someone coming even close to Dario. She didn't think anyone ever would. But still, her father expected her to marry. She didn't want to disgrace him. But there really wasn't anyone she could even consider marrying. The devas Karsh and Zoah were good friends, but she doubted that she would ever be able to see them as something else. Besides, Zoah was way too young for her. And Glenn? She couldn't bear even thinking about that possibility. Glenn was a strong and noble man, but he was also the brother of Dario. It would seem wrong to her. And just like Zoah, he was fairly young.

Riddel couldn't help but feel like an old lady. She could already imagine herself sitting in front of this very window thirty years from now. Nothing seemed to change for her. Every day passed just like the day before. She hardly ever had anything to do. Not like everyone else. Everyone seemed to have a place, except of her. She was just there, fulfilling no real task.

* * *

"So ya two are Eve n' Clair?", the captain asked, pointing at the two. The woman merely nodded, glancing over to Kidd and Harle. They were all sitting at a rather large wooden table in the captain's office. 

"Judgin' from what I heard already, ya helped us out against Viper'a soldiers?", the captain asked, grimacing at the word soldier. They had been a bunch of wusses, and nothing more. One only had to strike their arm and suddenly they couldn't walk anymore, crouching in a corner. Pathetic. Viper hadn't seemed to know what kind of people he had relied on.

"So I guess we should thank ya two. I hope we can trust ya?", he asked, looking at them sternly.

"Stop that already.", Kidd said and laughed, "they already proved they're with us." Eve looked up to see Kidd's smiling face flicker in the dim candlelight. It was already dark outside, but the captain had insisted to speak to them. And since both Kidd and Eve had been tired enough to sleep until late into the afternoon, it had gotten quite late.

Eve shot a glance to her side, seeing Clair fidgeting. She looked nervous, which was understandable. The captain looked quite intimidating with his broad shoulders, long beard and his deep and loud voice. However, judging from the way Kidd had talked to him, he seemed quite affable.

"We have no business with Viper anymore, if that's what you mean. And also, we are extremely grateful that you allow us to be on your ship until we reach Porre. We're in your debt.", Eve said and bowed slightly, even though they were sitting.

The captain nodded agreeably and Kidd winked at her, causing Harle to glare at Kidd. Eve chuckled slightly at the sight. They really seemed to be a good match, now that she knew their relation.

She had talked to Harle earlier. Harle had come to her room to apologize to her. She had seemed different than when Eve had first seen her. But then again, such a battle probably changed everyone. The panic, the presence of death...Eve doubted anyone would be his or her usual self when facing something like this. So she had simply shrugged it off as that: an effect of the battle. They had started anew, and Eve found Harle to be quite a nice, if a bit mysterious, woman.

Quite the contrary of Kidd, who struck her as a very open.

"I think that makes us even. But now that's settled, does anyone care ta fill me in on this bloody dragon thing?", the captain asked and looked first to Kidd and Harle, then to Eve and Clair. He hadn't seen it himself. When he had gotten back onto this ship, the dragon had already...vanished.

"He waz not un real dragon. Not one of ze dragon godz.", Harle stated, joining the conversation. After all, this was her metier.

Kidd nodded while Eve and Clair just stared at Harle, not really following. By dragon gods, she couldn't mean the six legendary dragons? Clair had heard stories about them, but didn't really know much about them besides that. The thought of this dragon being one of the dragon gods hadn't crossed her mind even once until now.

"Do you know anythin' 'bout it?", the captain asked Eve and Clair. "Ya've been workin' for him. Surely ya know somethin' 'bout the dragon?"

"We don't know much. Everyone knows there is a dragon, but hardly any soldier knows more than that. It is sort of a secret project. The dragon is supposed to be Viper's new weapon. Back in Viper Manor, I eavesdropped on a few soldiers. They said the dragon was only a proto type. I don't know if this is indeed true. There are many rumours.", Clair explained. Eve nodded at that. She had heard rumours as well. It was like with any secret. People tended to speculate, and in the end nobody knew right from wrong. That was why she never believed in rumours until she had seen it with her own eyes. And what she had seen had been quite different from all the talk of it being a weapon.

"I...I also think that the dragon isn't really evil.", Eve added, glancing to Kidd nervously, half expecting her to yell at her again. But to her surprise, Kidd did nothing. She just listened to her intently, allowing Eve to continue. "I had seen it before on the lowest deck, while trying to find out more about it. But then Viper came down and the dragon...helped me hide from them." Eve gulped, not really wanting to explain this. "Anyway, I think the dragon could have a certain amount of intellect. After all, it responded to Viper's orders as well."

"Intellect?", Kidd asked incredulously. "I...think it's a robot." This caused everyone to look at her wide-eyed, including Harle. "Lemme explain. Before I fell unconscious, I saw how he...it...spread its wings. They were partly made from metal."

Harle watched her, trying to imagine what the wings could look like, coming to no result. It was too strange a thing to imagine. Eve and Clair meanwhile just stared at Kidd, until Eve finally asked the question they both had on their minds: "What's a robot?"

Kidd bit her lip and scratched the back of her head. Of course they couldn't know about such things. "It's...like a machine in the shape of an animal or human." If she was honest, she didn't even know herself. She had only heard the tales of Lucca. She had told Kidd that she had met a robot once, and even been able to repair it. She had said that the robot could speak and even think on its own. The way Lucca had explained it to her, she had eventually left it in the middle ages and never seen again since then. It sounded crazy, even to Kidd. But Lucca had known so much, and Kidd couldn't bring herself to think that Lucca had made these stories up. After all, she had been the greatest inventor of the world. Maybe she still was.

"Anyway, these robots can imitate animals or humans, they can even speak and think. But they're not really intelligent." Kidd remembered Lucca telling her that everything they did was just 'programmed'. Whatever that had meant. Kidd had been too small to understand these things, and even now, she guessed she wouldn't be able to.

"Just what the hell are you talking about?", Eve asked, trying to sound calm and unimpressed. This was definitely going too fast for her and she couldn't believe that Harle and the captain didn't react the same way she did. Did they know of this weird things too? "Machines that can imitate humans? That's impossible.", she stated, matter-of-factly.

"It's not! Lucca could do it! Maybe there are others...if one can do it, it's not impossible for others.", Kidd said penetratingly and looked sternly at Eve and Clair.

"That's-", Eve started but stopped when she felt Clair's hand on hers.

"I think we should see this Lucca person. Maybe she really knows something about this.", Clair said calmly, looking over to Eve who nodded stubbornly.

"We can't. Lucca is...dead.", Kidd said, her voice dark. She had expected them to say this, so she didn't waver while saying it. She didn't dare looking at Harle out of fear what she would see in her eyes, so she looked intently at Eve and Clair, who in turn looked down.

"I'm sorry.", Clair said apologetically, turning her head to the side to escape Kidd's intent gaze. As she did so, she caught a glimpse of Harle's eyes. They were full of sadness. She hadn't believed it at first, but as she saw these eyes, she did. The eyes really showed the feelings.

Clair quickly turned her head back to fully see them, but once she did, the sadness was gone, and Harle looked perfectly normal. Maybe it had just been the candlelight after all. She decided not to ponder too deeply on it.

"Well...it doesn't matter if it's a robot or an animal, we have ta stop it. This thing is bloody dangerous. It's almost immune ta physical and elemental attacks. It's a monster. And what's worse, it does whatever Viper tells it ta.", Kidd said darkly. However, she wasn't sure if the dragon really obeyed him completely. After all, Viper had told it to kill her and Harle, yet he had spared them.

"Mais...Viper iz dead, non?", Harle asked, causing the others to look at her.

"I'm...not really sure. I beat him, but...I didn't kill him.", Eve mumbled, feeling stupid for not having done it. It would have been so easy to just kill him on the spot...but somehow, she hadn't been able to.

"So there's a possibility he escaped the drowning ship. I've seen two or three lifeboats. He could be on one of 'em.", the captain said thoughtfully.

The others looked down, thinking of what it would mean for them if he were to be still alive.

"What if he had escaped with the dragon? You didn't kill the dragon, no? And if he really had wings, it would be possible.", Clair rationalized, even though she felt odd thinking about such a thing. But the fact was, the dragon was unlikely to drown, so it had probably at least saved himself.

"So that means we have ta be on our guard...", the captain mumbled, deep in thought. This wasn't good. Not knowing if Viper was dead or alive certainly wasn't good. Especially considering what had happened.

"Listen, I have somethin' ta tell ya. Aside from this whole dragon and Viper mess...there's one more thing I haven't told ya 'bout yet.", the captain said slowly, a sad look on his face. Kidd and Harle immediately knew something was wrong.

The four women leaned forward, dreading what the captain might say.

"It's about Jack...", he said quietly, his fists trembling as if he had to hold himself back from smashing them onto the table. "He's gone."

* * *

"How are you feeling, my boy? Have they treated you well?", Viper asked in the most gentle voice he could muster. 

Jack looked up from his bed, where he was eating the breakfast that had been brought to him. He shot Viper an angry glare, but remained silent. He knew he couldn't do much.

Aside from the bed, the room was sparsely furnished, only a table with a chair near the window and a commode to put clothes in. Of course, he had none to put into, and the view from the window hardly interested him. He was on the fourth floor, much too high to escape, and it wasn't the first time that he thought that he felt like being trapped in the tower of a castle, where nobody would ever come.

They were guards in front of the door, Jack assumed them to be two. It would hardly be an even battle, with his only weapon being his bare fists. So he had given up on escaping with force only five minutes after he had awoken in this room. He had to find another way.

"Do you like your breakfast? Most of the soldiers would kill over something like that.", Viper asked and chuckled, sitting down on the chair.

Jack looked down at his plate, frowning. It certainly was a rather extravagant meal, entirely different from what he usually ate on the ship. There, the usual meals consisted of thin soups with rusk, and apples for the hunger in between. Only sometimes would they get meat, which was often salted so much he could hardly eat it. He had grown accustomed to it, though he had to admit that the breakfast in front of him was quite pleasurable. He would never say it, though. But judging from the amused expression with which Viper looked at his already half-empty plate, he knew.

"You're not very talkative, are you?", Viper asked, smiling at Jack.

"What do you want from me? Why did you take me here?", Jack asked, looking Viper directly into the eyes. He wouldn't let himself show that he was afraid of him.

"My, my. Is that your way of saying thank you to your saviour? After all, you would have drowned if I hadn't been so kind as to take you with me.", Viper said gravely.

"D...drowned?" Jack almost choked on his breakfast, staring at Viper.

"Yes. Unfortunately, these pirates managed to destroy my ship. It seems like I underestimated them.", Viper answered and shrugged, as if all the deaths that had probably been involved were nothing to him. Jack wondered if the crew of the Radical Dreamers was okay.

"As you surely know, I'm a pirate too. So what do you want from me?", Jack asked sternly, eyeing Viper suspiciously.

"Are you?", Viper asked and smirked. Jack instantly looked down at himself. Once again he noticed the neat white shirt he was wearing, with frills at the sleeves and a tidy collar. The trousers were black and noble-looking. Someone had changed them while he had been asleep. He didn't particularly mind them, but he did wonder why anyone would care to put a thug like him into these clothes.

"I think you look pretty handsome in those. They suit you better than the rags you had worn before.", Viper added.

"Enough of this. What do you want from me? Why are you keeping me here? If you want to kill me, then do it now, instead of letting me wait. If it's information you want, you won't get it anyway.", Jack said rather aggressively, surprising himself.

"If you're so intent on it...", Viper said, a dangerous glimmer in his eyes that made Jack gulp. As Viper stepped closer, Jack realized that he had bluffed too hard.

"But you know, I don't take joy in killing people. What's their death, to me? It is completely unnecessary, especially in your case. After all, you are the last one to blame for what had happened." While saying this, Viper walked across the room, grimacing as he talked, as if the very idea of killing his opponents was foreign and abstract to him. It made Jack sick just looking at it.

"Don't try to fool me!", Jack yelled, standing up from his bed. "Don't tell me you're all good, when you are the one that made Harle suffer so much!" Jack realized too late that yelling at Viper might have been a stupid thing to do, but he couldn't hold back anymore, even though he knew that Viper was far stronger than him.

For a moment Viper was caught off guard by what Jack had said, but he regained his confident smile soon enough to meet the infuriated Jack with his broad smile.

"Whatever do you mean?", he asked quietly, looking away from him. As angry as Jack was, Viper knew he would tell him everything he wanted to know.

"Don't play dumb with me! It was you that made her run away from us. You and your damn dragon! It's your fault...that she doesn't trust me anymore.", Jack grew silent towards the end, losing his anger, which made place for sadness. It still depressed him that she hadn't been able to talk to him, and that Kidd was the only one that could reach out to her. Always.

Viper raised an eyebrow at what Jack had said, trying to put the pieces together. So the dragon really seemed to have had a huge impact on Harle, and Jack hated him for that reason. It was a silly thing, really.

"I'm terribly sorry for what had happened to your friend. But look at it from my perspective for once, will you? Kidd and her friend had simply intruded my mansion, obviously trying to rob me. They thought me unconscious, but I had been able to hear what they were saying. Obviously they had been after an old relic I keep in my collection. However, as they didn't find it, they, or I should rather say Kidd, took a few of my maps with them. These maps are of no use to all of you, but they are very important to me. So after hearing this, do you still think it wasn't just the most natural thing for me to do to try to get it back?", Viper looked at Jack intently, his voice tainted with innocence. "You see, I even tried to talk to Kidd, on the ship. I had offered her money in exchange of the map, but instead she attacked me ruthlessly. Even though Harle had tried to stop her. Kidd just said that she believed that there would be more money to find in the places marked on the map, than I would ever offer her. It's really a pity she thinks so. Especially for her friend, who was dragged into this silly battle against her will.", Viper concluded, eyeing Jack expectantly. He dreaded to see his reaction. Maybe he had exaggerated too much. He had no idea of how much the young man in front of him really knew, and it was a gamble to blame Kidd for what had happened. After all, he didn't have any idea of his actual relations to those too. But even if Jack wouldn't believe him, she would be able to fix it. Even though it would certainly be easier otherwise.

"So you're trying to say that it's all Kidd's fault?", Jack said with a sarcastic voice, but his eyes were clouded with doubt. Viper's smile grew.

* * *

"Does everyone know what ta do?", the captain asked, regarding the others. 

"Aye!", they replied eagerly, leaping from the ship and onto the docks of Porre. They quickly tried to mingle with the other people on the docks, trying not to draw too much attention. Kidd waited a moment, turning around to face the captain, who was still standing on the ship, a frown on his face.

"Be careful not ta get caught or anythin'. We'll be back soon.", Kidd called to him, waving at him before she grabbed Harle's hand and they both disappeared in the crowd. It was a busy day at the harbour, countless workers walking about to load boxes onto ships.

Kidd felt a bit silly having waved to the captain like a little girl would to her parents when going out to play. But playing wasn't what Kidd had in mind right now. She didn't know what would await them, but Kidd was prepared. It could be easy if Viper was dead, but it could also become troublesome if he was not.

A/N: Not really much to say about this chapter. It was neccessary, but I don't really like it. But the next chapter will be better, I'm sure. Also, thanks for the reviews and I hope you continue reviewing as well.


	14. Elusive Truth

A/N: Whew, finished just in time to wish you all a merry Christmas! And a happy new year as well, because I don't think I'll be able to finish the next chapter earlier. Anyway, sorry this took so long, but I hope over 15.000 words will make up for that (seriously, next time I write a story, I'll try to write chapters with similar lengths XD) I hope you'll enjoy this chaper, even if it's not very Christmas-like. Please review!

And also,because writer-jm was so kind as to tell me, I'll give you a link where you can look up foreign words if they're not explained by context: w w w . w o r l d l i n g o . c o m / w l / t r a n s l a t e (I added the spaces in between because I have no idea if this site allows me to write links). It's a translator for almost every language one could think of : )

Chapter 14 – Elusive Truth

Clair and Eve walked along the crowded and noisy streets of Porre, Eve looking upwards the whole time, marvelling at the tall and impressive buildings that surrounded her. Eve had never seen a city this huge before, Termina had been about the biggest city for her up until now. She simply stared at her surroundings, her mouth wide open in the shape of an O.

"Don't you think this place is just great?", Eve asked, as she turned around from where she had run in front of Clair, looking at her expectantly.

"Yeah, it's pretty impressive." Clair couldn't really think of something else to say. Sure, this city was great, but unfortunately the last thing on her mind right now. They were here to do something, and Clair was immensely worried. At first she had thought that the Radical Dreamers would simply let them go upon reaching the harbour of Porre, but before she knew it, they had been deeply integrated into their plans. Eve didn't seem to mind at all, in fact she seemed almost eager to do it. Something that entirely slipped Clair's level of comprehension.

How could she be so carefree? Only a few hours were left until they would be fighting for their lives, probably. The very idea of being engaged in battle again appalled her. Of course, it was the right thing to do, to finally end this, to finally get to know the truth. But still, she was scared, probably more than one would assume her to be. She wasn't scared of the enemies. She was scared of herself. What would she do? Would she make the right decision?

She sighed, her eyes turned towards the ground. She should stop thinking like this, Harle had already told her that her decisions were right as long as she fought for something she believed in. And she really did believe that Viper was up to no good. All those guns he had, and his unknown objective as to why he wanted to kill the Radical Dreamers just for stealing the maps…it was most disturbing.

"C'mon Clair, hurry up! There are still so many things to see!", Eve called out to her happily, waving her hand.

Clair put on a smile and hurried to follow her friend along the busy streets. Eve had saved her life. Trying to be glad for her when she was enjoying herself was the least thing Clair could do. Tried to do.

They spotted all kinds of shops on the way, some of which they didn't even know what they were for. A foreign country was definitely different. So different that it might be a little scary at times, but also tempting.

The two of them passed a novel-looking building with a grand entrance door, and stopped to look at it.

"What's…this?", Eve asked hesitantly, frowning as she saw the unusually clad people emerging from the front door. They were talking to themselves eagerly, and were only mildly interested in the two soldiers who stood staring at them.

Clair watched them for a while, then shrugged. "No idea. It shouldn't be so bad though, the people coming out seem to be quite happy."

"Yeah, but look at their clothes! They seem like kings.", Eve whispered breathlessly. "I don't think we can go in there quite easily."

"They do look quite wealthy, that's true."

"I bet Kidd would know what this building is.", Eve said, furrowing her brows. She felt a little stupid.

"You think so? Harle strikes me as the more knowledgeable of the two, actually.", Clair said and a small smile tugged at her lips. Ever since she had talked to Harle, she couldn't help but imagine her as a sage or something similar. She was so wise, and could see right through people. At first she had been scared of someone who could see what she was feeling, but now it only made her want to talk to her again, to see what she sees. Clair felt quite silly however, thinking such things.

"But I guess since they're not here to tell us, we have to find out ourselves. Shall we go in, then?", Clair asked, motioning her head for the entrance.

"I don't think we should be doing that. Maybe people like us aren't allowed in there.", Eve answered and looked doubtful.

"You talk like we're beggars! I'm sure they'll let us in, we're soldiers after all.", Clair tried to reassured her, even though she didn't like to sound so proud of being a soldier. It would be over soon, anyway.

"I don't know…" Eve looked around self-consciously. She really wanted to know what kind of building this was, but her fear of making a fool out of herself nagged at her mind.

A smile crossed Clair's face unwillingly and she chuckled at Eve's behaviour. Eve could be so shy sometimes. After a quick glance to her, she strode forward and walked towards the door from which so many rich people had emerged just a minute ago.

Eve gasped as she saw Clair go, and quickly looked up to the huge letters above the door before she followed her friend. The letters read: "The queen and the thief", and Eve couldn't help but wonder about the strangeness of these words, having been put together in a seemingly nonsensical manner.

The large door seemed every bit as heavy as it looked, and Clair had to push hard to open it.

Inside there was a rather dark hallway, and Eve and Clair had to squint until their eyes got accustomed to the stark contrast to the bright daylight outside.

There was a woman standing behind what looked like a counter. She smiled at them and bowed as they reached the counter. "Welcome, what can I do for you?"

"Actually we…", Clair started but trailed off, her eyes searching until they spotted a board with the words 'entrance fees' on it, and underneath a list with several prices varying from child to adult. Without looking at the details, she just continued. "Actually we'd like two tickets.", she finally said, smiling at the woman.

"That would be 300 G. But I'm afraid the next play won't start within the next two hours.", the woman smiled apologetically.

Clair's eyes had grown wide as the mention of the price, but now returned to normal. "I see. That's too bad, we'll have to come back another time then, right Eve?", she asked, looking at her friend.

"Y…yeah, that's a bit late.", Eve stuttered, playing along. The prices were outrageous, there was no way they could afford this much money for something they didn't even know what it was.

Eve looked around, noticing a few people coming from a room beyond the hallway. They were dressed the same as the people she had seen before. At last there came a lady with long light violet hair, dressed in a fancy white dress. Eve didn't realize who she was until she lifted her head a little, but when she did, Eve grabbed Clair's arm, tugging at it.

"We'd better go then, bye.", she quickly said and dragged Clair from the hallway out onto the streets, where she quickly hid behind the corner of a nearby house. Clair, who hadn't protested until now pulled her arm free and looked at Eve questioningly.

"What's wrong?", she asked, joining Eve in her look around the corner. A few people were still walking out of the building and among them a sole woman, seemingly unaccompanied.

"Lady Riddel!", Clair gasped. "I didn't expect to see her here."

"Good thing she didn't see us.", Eve mumbled thoughtfully. "Though I don't know how much she really knows."

"I always thought of her as a nice person. I don't think she knows what her father does.", Clair said and frowned. They didn't know what Viper did either. They simply assumed that he was plotting something evil, but so far, they didn't exactly find any proof for that.

"We should follow her. No one seems to accompany her, so it'll be easy. We still have some time left before our mission.", Eve suggested.

"You're right. Let's do it." Clair approved and both of them stepped out of the corners and onto the busy streets, trying to follow Riddel as inauspiciously as possible, having all but forgotten about the strange building they had been so interested in a few minutes ago.

* * *

"Whaddaya say ta this? There's not one bloody guard in sight!", Kidd whispered in surprise, turning her eyes from the glass and to Harle. 

"It'z trés suspicious, non?", Harle mumbled, taking the glass from Kidd to take a look herself. And Kidd had been right, this mansion looked perfectly normal and peaceful. "Zis iz ze right place?", she asked, even though she knew that it was, there was no doubt about it. It was just hard to believe.

"Sure is.", Kidd said, a little nervous. "There's somethin' wrong 'bout this, it must be a trap." She called it a trap, but she couldn't imagine how Viper could be expecting them. He couldn't possibly know about them. "I'm glad we sent Eve and Clair ta the warehouse. If Viper is still alive, he must be here."

To her surprise, Harle chuckled. When Kidd turned to look at her, she smiled at her knowingly. "You don't have much faith in zem, it seemz."

"It's not that.", Kidd quickly answered and looked away. "I trust 'em and all, they just seem so inexperienced with stuff like this. I don't want somethin' happenin' ta them, after all they've done ta help us."

"Zey will be fine, moi iz sure.", Harle said softly, reassuring her. "Eve iz trés strong-willed and brave, and Clair…", Harle wasn't sure how to put it, "she seemz wise…and trés intelligente. Zey are a good pair."

Now it was Kidd's turn to chuckle. "A good pair, huh? In what sense?"

"Moi doezn't know.", Harle said with a frown.

"Maybe you're seein' things.", Kidd said with a kind voice, not trying to make her angry.

"Maybe…" Harle wasn't really sure, but to her, Clair seemed to be more than just a friend to Eve. She didn't know if it was the same the other way around, though.

"I really hope they won't get inta trouble.", Kidd said, changing the topic.

"You worry too much, mon amour.", Harle replied, smiling.

"I know. But I have a bad feelin' 'bout this. We all but pushed them inta this, we didn't really ask if they wanted ta help us."

"Moi iz sure zey want to help. After all, zey don't seem to have any odder place to go to, anywayz.", Harle said gravely.

"Ya think they'll want ta join us?", Kidd asked, her smile growing at the thought. She would certainly like to have more women on board, to balance out the load of testosterone, even though she couldn't say that she disliked any of the men. But also, Eve and Clair seemed like really good comrades, and she would hate to see them wandering around without having a goal.

"Peut-être.", Harle replied, even though she didn't really think Eve and Clair would join the Radical Dreamers. She hated to think it, but Eve and Clair just seemed too good to be pirates. Not that she considered herself especially evil or mean, but she had no pity for those who stood against her, no matter who it was. And Eve and Clair…they just seemed a little too soft.

"It's already gettin' dark.", Kidd noted absent-mindedly, "we should strike soon."

"Oui."

"I don't believe there are no guards, we'll have ta split up. I'll be the bait and you'll sneak inside and try to find some information, or maybe, Viper himself. Avoid too many casualties. Those people are just doing their job.", Kidd explained and chuckled at the end. She didn't want to imagine the fate of those poor fools who would try to stop Harle.

"Mais oui.", Harle nodded and smirked. "Moi won't be too hard on zem."

"Okay then. But try ta stop Viper at all costs if you really find him. I'll see what I can find after I'm through with the guards. I'll help you then. He has ta hide his personal stuff somewhere…", Kidd said thoughtfully.

* * *

"Good evening, lady Riddel!", two surprised soldiers said and saluted. They both stood to the sides of a wide wooden door, and while they weren't wearing the uniforms Riddel would have expected them to wear, she could still see they were guards of Viper. 

"Good evening gentlemen. I have come here to see my father. May I pass?", Riddel asked calmly as she stood before them.

"Of course!", the soldier to her right replied, opening the door for her. Riddel passed through the door without another word to the soldiers, who simply bowed to her.

Inside, Riddel was surprised to see the warehouse quite busy, even though it was already late. There were still countless people walking about the place, heaving wooden boxes or running around to manage the deliveries.

Riddel knew what those boxes contained. Most of them were filled with rations for the soldiers, and swords for them to carry. But there were also a lot of large boxes with ship parts and all kinds of construction plans. Things like that had never interested her much, and anyway, she wasn't here to see those people work.

Climbing up a flight of stairs, she soon reached a door which she knew lead to her father's office. To her surprise it wasn't locked, so Riddel didn't knock and simply opened the door quietly.

Her father sat at a large desk full of papers, sitting in a large chair with its back turned to her. He seemed to be speaking to someone via communicator. Riddel didn't want to disturb him, so she decided to close the door again and wait outside until he finished.

However, just as she moved to close the door, her father's unusually harsh voice made her halt.

"Fifty-thousand G!", Viper asked incredulously and laughed angrily. "Just to get rid of her? I believe that's a bit much, _my friend_." He emphasized the last two words threateningly.

Riddel couldn't bring herself to lock the door at those words, and simply remained standing at the half-opened door, frozen.

"Yes I know you are a professional. Yes, you never fail. But requesting fifty-thousand for a single person is just-". Viper obviously tried to persuade the person on the other end, but was seemingly interrupted and now listened closely.

"Yes, I believe we both know whom we are talking about.", Viper said, seeming to force himself to sound calm and listened. In between, he sometimes nodded and gave a grunt, more to himself than to the other person. Riddel couldn't help but wonder whom her father was talking to. This conversation seemed to be beyond ordinary business.

"Well then, let's make a deal. You get the money, but only if you do it according to _my _schedule. You'll do it exactly three days from now. If you do it any sooner or later, I'll only pay half of the money. Understood?", he asked and soon an evil smile formed on his lips. "Good."

After that he shut the communicator and sighed, turning around in his chair. "Whoever let this monster run loose should be shot."

After a few moments, he dedicated his thoughts to the papers on the desk in front of him, frowning as he looked through them.

By the time he did, the door was already closed again and Riddel gone, dashing along the stairs, and only slowing when the workers looked at her strangely.

She wanted to get out of this warehouse as soon as possible, and was quite out of breath as she finally saw the door that lead outside. She tried to calm herself as she reached the soldiers standing there, but noticed the questioning looks they gave her.

"Is everything alright, lady Riddel?", one of them asked, his expression worried.

"Yes, everything is fine.", she replied half-heartedly and intended to walk past them, but was stopped by the voice of the other soldier.

"Isn't it too dark for you to walk to the manor alone? Should I get someone to accompany you, miss?", he asked and already turned his head to look for someone to spare.

"That won't be necessary, gentlemen. I shall think I'll find my way to the manor alone.", Riddel retorted, not willing to discuss this matter. The soldiers simply shrugged and let her leave.

The way to the manor wasn't a terribly long one, and Riddel guessed it would take her twenty minutes to get there, if she took the shortcut through the woods. Which she did, because she didn't care much for the noise of the city, and was glad that both the warehouse and the manor were situated apart from the centre of Porre.

She didn't know why she had even come here, at all, if she didn't like big cities. After all, she could have stayed in Viper Manor back in El Nido, and not have bothered to come all the way to the Zenan Mainland just to sit in the manor all day just like before.

She had wanted to see the continent where _she _had been born, had lived for so long. It had simply interested her, but now that she was here, she didn't know where to go, where to look. And Riddel didn't even know where _she_ was. She hadn't seen her in quite some time. Of course, things had changed over all these years, but she still missed the good old times, when she sat in her room, all alone, her only entertainment being the rising and setting sun.

She had been so childish back then, playing with her. Riddel wondered if she could ever laugh this freely again. She hadn't laughed in quite some time. She only occasionally smiled when she thought of her past, of her friend…and Dario too. How she missed him! How she missed being a careless child. How she missed being oblivious to everything.

* * *

"I still don't think this is a good idea. We're going to get into so much trouble.", Eve murmured thoughtfully. 

"We're already in it. But this is one way to make it easier for us. You know I don't like it either.", Clair replied glumly. "I always kind of liked her."

"Yeah, it seems unfair to drag her into this when she probably doesn't know about anything."

"We won't hurt her or anything. After we have finished this we let her go."

"Alright. I just hope it works out.", Eve said doubtfully. She was eager enough to raid the warehouse and hopefully find information on Viper's doings, but dragging Lady Riddel into this seemed a bit much to her.

They both lay on a hill and watched the path below, which lead from the warehouse into the forest. Once Riddel appeared, they would go down and stop her. It seemed easy enough.

"Hey, Clair.", Eve said suddenly, still gazing at the path thoughtfully.

"Mm?"

"What will we do after this? I mean, after _all _this. Suppose Viper is still alive but we get rid of him, and stop all of whatever evil plans he has in store. What will we do, after that? We won't be soldiers anymore, then.", Eve said, trying to distract herself from what she was about to do.

"You could join in another army. You're good, I bet everyone would take you in.", Clair answered instantly, smiling weakly at her friend.

"I'm not sure if I want that anymore. I don't want to fight for people I don't know the intentions of. I would probably end up just like I am now."

"Maybe. What about the Radical Dreamers, then? Kidd seems to like you, I bet she'd like to have you with her. And you could simply leave whenever you chose to.", Clair suggested. She didn't know if she could quite imagine her friend as a pirate yet, but it would probably suit her better than being a soldier.

"I've thought about that too, but I have no idea if they'd want me. They seem to be nice people, though.", Eve mumbled thoughtfully. She really hadn't thought about her future all this time. She had always thought she would still be a soldier, ten or twenty years from now. How foolish it seemed to her now. "But what about you, Clair? What will you do?"

Clair looked at her friend for a moment, then sighed. "I have no idea."

"You don't want to join the Radical Dreamers, then?", Eve asked, unable to hide the disappointment in her voice, even though she didn't know why she felt like that. It wasn't that she had thought that Clair and her would always be together, she had known that sooner or later, they would go different paths. But she wasn't sure if she liked that thought.

"No, I don't think so. I guess I'm not the right type for fighting, after all.", Clair replied levelly.

"I see.", Eve murmured. She should be glad for her friend and support her, but instead, she felt like she would do about anything to change Clair's mind. But seeing the sad and distant look on her friend's face, she decided not to be selfish. She hadn't really thought much about Clair's feelings lately, even though she now thought that she should have. They hadn't really talked about the battle on Viper's ship, what Clair must have been gone through, all alone and locked up on the lowest deck. Eve couldn't imagine how it would feel, to know that she was going to die. It must have been the most terrible feeling of all.

Eve felt a sharp pang of guilt, feeling that she had let down Clair, when she had needed her. She had to make her sadness go away, somehow.

"Well, I could imagine youliving in Termina and have a family.", Eve smiled brightly and moved her hands before her to emphasize. "You'd have a great view onto the ocean and your kids would beg you to go the beach with them everyday. Your husband would come along too, on the days on which he doesn't have to work, and together you'll live happily ever after." Eve's smile came forced now, but she was intent on trying to be happy, for her friend. "Wouldn't that be nice? I'm almost envious just imagining it!", she said and laughed. However, as she met Clair's eyes they were wide and incredulous, so unlike the eyes Eve had expected to see. But before Eve could say anything, Clair turned her face away from her.

"Do you really think I would want that?", she asked silently, her voice hiding her emotions completely. Eve didn't know if she was joking or really angry, though the latter seemed more probable to her. But she didn't know why.

"Clair, I-", Eve started, but was silenced as she saw Clair putting her index finger to her lips.

"She's here." Immediately after saying this, Clair sneaked down the hill. It was already quite dark, so she didn't have to worry about being seen too early. Eve followed suit, a little taken aback by the sudden change but intend to push it to the back of her mind until this was over.

Eve hadn't reached the path when Clair already called out: "Stop right there!" Her tone was angry and harsh, and Eve wondered just how much of this was acted.

As expected, Riddel stopped at once, looking around curiously until she spotted Clair, who came to a halt about two metres in front of her, her sword drawn.

"One more step and you'll regret it.", she said threateningly, watching Eve take place behind Riddel, to prevent her from running away.

To their surprise, Riddel didn't cry out or tremble with fear. She simply watched them, trying to see whom she was facing.

"Are you…Viper soldiers?", she asked, judging from the clothes the attackers wore.

"Ex Viper soldiers.", Clair answered immediately. At this point Eve knew that Clair would do all the talking, and Eve didn't want to argue and say she shouldn't be too hard on lady Riddel. It was too late now, anyway.

"What do you want from me, then?", Riddel asked, her eyes daring, as if it was the most obvious question to ask. If Clair was surprised by Riddel's brashness, she didn't show it.

"We're taking you hostage.", came the answer. Just then did Riddel turn around slightly to look at Eve with a sceptically raised eyebrow, as though she hadn't noticed her before. "I see." Riddel's lips formed a wry smile.

Eve trembled under the gaze of Riddel, she hadn't expected her to react like this. She had imagined her to cry out for help, or try to run away and scream, or do whatever a rich daughter is supposed to do in such a situation, but Riddel before her was entirely different. And shockingly indifferent. Riddel looked at her as if she was above such petty things like kidnapping, as if she had seen worse than this. But had she? Eve couldn't guess.

"I guess you should do as you please then, seeing as how you two are armed and I am not. But I ask you not to use too much force on me, I won't struggle." Her own bitter and cold tone surprised Riddel, even though she didn't show it. Did she really not care about being taken hostage? Didn't she care that these people might as well kill her? Was the shock over her father's shady doings too much for her? She didn't know. Didn't want to know.

"Tie her hands, then her feet.", Clair said to Eve, and Eve obeyed, though slightly dismayed that Clair wouldn't even call her by her name.

She took out the rope and began to tie Riddel's hands together, carefully not to tie it too tight, but not too loose either. After she finished with her hands, she nudged Riddel to walk forward, to a tree a little off the path, where Clair already stood.

Riddel already knew what she was supposed to do and walked to stand with her back facing the tree. Eve went towards her and knelt down to tie her feet together.

"What do you gain by taking me hostage?", Riddel asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

"You'll save our lives.", Clair replied, her voice now a little gentler than before. There was no use in trying to intimidate her. Riddel was submissive enough, and even though she seemed unimpressed by them, Clair didn't think she would cause any trouble. "You'll just have to wait here until we come and get you. That's all.", she said, watching Eve stand up and start to finally tie the rope around the tree and Riddel.

"And you're letting a lady freeze in this forest for saving your lives? That's pretty harsh.", Riddel said mockingly. She didn't know why, but she didn't fear those people at all, or maybe she really was beyond being afraid right now. But it gave her an unusual kind of satisfaction to provoke them, something she would have never thought of herself before.

"I guess it is.", Clair said, reminding herself not to give in to her own hostage, even though it really was kind of chilly. But even as she spoke these words, Eve began to unbutton her jacket and pull it around Riddel's shoulders, buttoning it at the front to keep her warm. At least a little.

Clair had wanted to protest, but it was already too late. She looked from Riddel to Eve and sighed. Both their behaviour was upsetting her, but she didn't say anything and simply walked towards the path again.

"We'll be back soon, so don't try to run.", Eve whispered to Riddel and then followed Eve. Riddel just nodded and watched them leave.

* * *

Kidd knelt behind a bush, listening closely for any kind of sound at all, but everything was quiet. Too quiet. 

This trap was so obvious it was laughable. Kidd couldn't believe Viper thought of them as such fools. As if anyone would think that someone like Viper wouldn't guard his own mansion!

But still, something was strange. This mansion and the warehouse were marked on the maps Kidd had stolen. But why would Viper mark his own mansion on a map? She was determined to find out.

She had watched the entrance door for about half an hour now, and nobody had come out yet. Nobody had gotten inside, either. It seemed as if the mansion was completely devoid of life.

Kidd looked around in the dark, her hands searching the ground for a few small stones. She found them, and chose the smallest one first.

The bush behind which she was hiding was located about fifteen metres away from the entrance door, so Kidd reached back and threw the stone against the door.

The stone hit the centre of the door with a rather loud thud, then dropped to the ground. Kidd waited a few moments, expecting a soldier to open the door, but nothing happened.

Slightly agitated, she threw the next stone, about three times as big as the first one. It hit the door hard, but still nothing stirred after that.

"Bloody soldiers.", Kidd huffed and stood up, walking towards the door. Her dagger was drawn and she laid her ear to the door to listen for any movements behind it, finding none. It really was too suspicious.

Kidd tried to open the door, but of course, it was locked. She stepped back a little and regarded the set of double doors, trying to think of a way to get in.

There was nothing but a long handle at the front, so the door was obviously locked from the inside. Kidd looked up at the sky and frowned to see the moon half covered with clouds. She took the dagger out of its sheath and held it before the lock, twisting the blade until she found the angle which reflected the dim light of the moon right into the space between the doors. And just as expected, the light hit the shiny surface of metal.

Kidd almost laughed at the sight. Viper's second mansion was only locked with a simple bolt. He obviously didn't care much about his second residence then, Kidd guessed. Every amateur would get past this bolt.

Kidd stepped close to the door, sliding her dagger in between the doors until she hit the bolt. She moved it a little downward then, and forward again until her dagger was beneath the bolt. Then she simply pushed it upwards.

As expected, the bolt was quite heavy and her dagger a little too short, so she had to push the dagger in until the hilt hit the wood of the doors.

Once again, Kidd was grateful for her Prism Dagger, at least she didn't have to worry over it breaking under the pressure of the bolt. But it was still too hard to lift normally, so Kidd had to go on her knees and take the dagger into both of her hands. She then stood up slowly, lifting the bolt bit by bit until it stood vertically.

With a relieved sigh she opened the door and quietly closed them behind her as she stepped into the dark hall. A few candles were lit where a stairway lead to the next floor and a corridor lead deeper into the mansion, but aside from that, it was dark. And silent.

"So much for distractin' the guards.", Kidd whispered to herself as she placed her dagger back into its sheath and proceeded deeper into the mansion.

* * *

Harle leaned against the cold wall of the mansion and sighed. She was standing at the outside wall on the second floor, beside a balcony she had not yet dared to step upon. She had stayed in place for over twenty minutes now, and began to admit that it was getting chilly. 

Kidd had told her to go in once she heard noises at the front door, which meant that the soldiers were occupied with Kidd, but up until now, it had been silent.

So after a lot of deliberation, she decided to go in. The balcony was easy to enter, and soon she found herself in a long hallway, leading to a flight of stairs to the right, and a junction to the left. She chose left.

This unwillingly reminded her of the last time she had done this, and she couldn't shake off the thought that she was doing the same thing again. She didn't listen to Kidd. But this bugged her only until she reached a richly decorated door, and a smile formed on her lips. This must be it.

Harle approached the door slowly and silently, her steps cautious. She leaned her ear onto the door, listening for any voices or movements inside. Everything was perfectly silent.

Harle idly wondered if this mansion was completely empty as she pulled at the doorknob and opened the large door. Nobody would leave a mansion like this unguarded. Something must have happened. Maybe Viper really was dead, and all the soldiers of the mansion dispatched to search for the remnants of the ship he had been on.

The room Harle stepped into was even darker than the hallway, and she left the door open to allow the dim light of the moon to reach inside, as sparse as it was.

Carefully treading through the room she noticed a large bed with gleaming white sheets and tall wooden posts at each corner. She held her breath and moved closer, but saw that the bed wasn't occupied. It was rather wide, effortlessly offering space for at least two people to sleep in, probably even three. However, she guessed the bed was only used by a single person, for she only saw one pillow at the head of the bed. She released the breath she had been holding and moved to turn around when a flicker of light caught her eyes, startling her.

She quickly looked up and took out her throwing cards in one swift motion, holding four of them in each hand, which were defensively crossed before her chest. The cards quivered in her hands. The source of the light was in front of her, only a few metres away. However, as she walked closer to it, it vanished and made place for a pair of red eyes.

Harle's eyes widened at the sight, and so did the ones she was looking into. Then her arms slackened and she came even closer until she could see her whole face. It was just a mirror. Harle chuckled slightly. It had reflected the moonlight that came through the door she had left open.

Harle regarded the mirror a little longer, noticing the fine crafting of its silvery frame in the shape of a snake. A viper, most likely.

Harle turned and looked around the room once more. This had to be a lady's room, she reasoned.

With her eyes now a little more accustomed to the darkness, she could make out a round table with only one chair next to it. Now she also saw dark curtains on the wall next to the table, and slightly pulled them aside to see the window behind them.

The window gave a nice view outside, but most of it was covered by trees which were planted too close to the window. Or maybe this was intended, for whatever reason.

As Harle closed the curtains again and turned around her look fell onto a small frame with a photo in it. It stood on the round table, and Harle picked it up and turned it towards the light from the door to look at it.

The photo showed Viper a few years younger than now, though how many, Harle couldn't guess. Beside him in his big arms stood a girl of maybe fifteen years, smiling broadly.

Harle frowned at the picture. It seemed to be old, for the colour had almost completely faded from it. She looked closer at the girl in Viper's arms. It was Riddel, smiling as if Viper meant the world to her. Maybe he had. Maybe he still did.

Harle couldn't help but wonder how any girl could be happy to have a father like this, a father who was so corruptive and deceitful. How could a child love such a father so much? She didn't know, but she wasn't the right person to ask such questions anyway. She was the last to question or define love and evil. She was the last who would know.

She sighed and put the photo back to its original place, intent not to linger in this room any longer. It obviously belonged to Riddel, which meant that it had no use for her. She doubted that she would find anything to prove Viper's evil plans here. Quite the contrary, probably. This room almost seemed like a shrine to all the good memories of Viper, and Harle shook her head at the thought. The very worst room to look into, indeed.

With quicker steps than before, Harle left the room and closed the door quietly. She was just about to continue along the corridor when an eerie voice behind her halted her.

"Fancy seeing you here, Harle." The voice sounded amused, but Harle immediately caught the sinister undertone and shivered.

Her hands quickly went to her pockets as she turned around, ready to attack the person. But as she saw who it was, her cards dropped to the ground unused, her eyes wide with terror. It was Jack.

He wore a long black coat and Harle could only catch a glimpse of the white shirt underneath, and she immediately knew it was him, despite his well-groomed and combed hair and twisted expression. It really was him.

In the dim light and his dark clothes, he looked even taller and broader than she knew him, and the throwing-knives he threateningly held in both of his hands underlined this image.

Harle shook her head slightly, but couldn't bring herself to speak. Instead, her feet moved backwards, almost of their own will.

"No need to run, Harle. I'm not here to hurt you." His eyes fixed hers.

Harle simply shook her head, and ran.

* * *

The guards at the front door had been easy enough to get rid of, without anyone noticing. 

Eve and Clair had just finished dragging the unconscious bodies behind a few boxes and barrels nearby, tying them up to be safe.

At first they had planned to go straight in. They still wore their Viper uniforms, after all, so it shouldn't have been a problem.

The soldiers at the warehouse however wore different uniforms, much to Eve and Clair's surprise. While their uniforms were blue, the soldiers at the warehouse wore red ones. A deep red which, while looking noble, also looked just like blood.

"Do you think we should take their uniforms? From what I hear, the warehouse is pretty full of soldiers and workers.", Eve suggested, choosing the easiest option.

"Yes, I think that would be the best to do. It won't do if we'll have to fight against everyone in there.", Clair answered. "My rod and your gun could be suspicious, but we can't risk leaving them here."

Clair was right, Eve knew that, even though she would have preferred leaving their suspicious weapons somewhere. But the thought that they could end up openly fighting with all the soldiers because of them was frightening her. Clair seemed to feel the same, because despite of what she had said, her face was dark and anxious.

"Let's change, then.", Eve said and grabbed one of the soldiers by the collar, starting to unbutton his jacket. "I do think the uniforms will be a bit large, though.", she added as she took the jacket off and looked at it.

"Just wear it over your uniform.", Clair replied, not looking at Eve. Then she shook her head, remembering that Eve only wore her shirt anyway, and that alone wouldn't help much. She quickly stripped the man before her off his jacket and trousers and put them on. Eve did the same, but found the legs and arms of the uniform a bit long, and the shoulders a bit broad. But with a stiff uniform like that, the shoulders wouldn't be the biggest problem.

Clair looked at Eve, then at herself. "Mine will be good enough, but yours is too obvious."

She walked over to Eve and took her left wrist abruptly, folding the arm of the uniform so that it only reached to her wrist and not all the way down her hand as it had before. She did the same with Eve's other arm, and also with both of her legs, for the trousers were so long that Eve would step upon them when she walked. Clair did it like a mother would do for her child. Except that Clair didn't feel as content doing it.

"Thanks.", Eve said and smiled sheepishly, but her smile wasn't returned. In fact, it didn't even seem to reach Clair at all, who simply gazed at Eve's hair and frowned.

"Tie your hair up, maybe they'll get suspicious if they see we're both girls." Eve nodded and did as she was told, but looked at Clair questioningly.

"But what about yours?"

"My hair won't matter. Just do it.", Clair replied and watched Eve hide her hair under her cap. She almost looked like a boy, with her hair seemingly short and her flat chest almost invisible under two shirts and a jacket. She was almost as tall as a man too, and the few missing centimetres wouldn't matter. It might work, if the others didn't notice. She hoped they wouldn't. She hoped that Eve would get out of this safely, despite of what they were going to do. Because she knew that if anything happened, it would be her fault.

"Why are looking at me…like this? Is something wrong?", Eve asked hesitantly, having noticed the sad look with which Clair was regarding her. It made her uneasy, because she still didn't know why Clair was looking at her like that, why she was so sad and serious lately. Clair wouldn't tell her. Eve wondered where her high-spirited and gentle friend had gone, she wondered what she had done that had made her leave in the first place.

"It's nothing. You'll look like a man to everyone inside, they won't notice a thing.", Clair answered calmly, even though she was worried about Eve.

"Let's go in, then.", Eve said with as much confidence as she could muster despite her uneasiness, and slowly opened the front door.

The voices from inside were loud, calling to each other about boxes having to be moved or packed, and people to be dispatched. Eve didn't listen to them, looking around the corner to see the whole interior of the warehouse.

Almost as expected, the whole hall was divided into cell-like parts, each of them occupied by busy workers and soldiers.

"We have to be quick. If people look at us for too long, they'll find out.", Eve cautioned. Clair merely nodded.

"His office must be up there.", Clair said and pointed to a flight of stairs which lead to a corridor with a few rooms lined there. "We'll try to find some information there. We'll just have to get past the soldiers quickly enough."

"Got it.", Eve simply said, already looking for a way to do just that.

* * *

She was getting cold despite the jacket. And it only made her wriggle more, trying to get rid of the rope that tied her to the tree. She had told herself that she wouldn't try to run, but her excitement over being a subject of kidnapping had long subsided and had made place for simple bitterness. 

The memories of the talk of her father wouldn't leave her mind anymore, it was the only thing she could think of. What was he planning to do? Was she just misinterpreting everything? Did he have a reason for the things he was doing? She didn't know, but she wanted to believe that he had.

But then, what were these women doing? They were obviously after Viper, she wouldn't be much use as a hostage if they were after anyone else. What would they do to him? Would they kill him?

One of the women had called herself an ex viper soldier. They had a score to settle with her father, Riddel guessed. She wasn't sure what she should feel right now. Of course she was worried…but there was also something else. A feeling that was alien to her. She couldn't quite name it, yet.

But she did know what she should do. She should get help, she didn't know what these women would do at the warehouse. They could have carried explosives or something alike. They could be a threat to her father, as much as she doubted, or was unwilling to believe that to be true.

However, she had come to the conclusion that she should get back to the mansion and tell the soldiers to leave for the warehouse. She hadn't been at the mansion since early morning when she had left for the city to go to the theatre, so she didn't know just how many of Viper's soldiers were left, but she hoped them to be enough.

But still, the problem of her being tied to a tree in the middle of a forest remained, and Riddel just started to regret her behaviour towards her kidnappers. Maybe if she had cried and begged and promised not to run, they would have tied the ropes a little more loosely. But then, she was such an unlikely drama queen, she couldn't possibly imagine herself to have done something like that.

Riddel looked down to the rope that bound her stomach and hip to the tree, frowning. If she would just get rid of that, she was sure she would be able to untie herself from the ropes around her wrists and ankles as well.

* * *

Her heart beat wildly, and her lungs hurt from forcing them to take shallow and even breaths despite the running and exhaustion. She squeezed herself close to a wall, trembling and tears of fear streaming down her cheeks. She gritted her teeth tightly to keep them from clattering, and her mouth from letting out the sobs that would most definitely come once she opened it. 

She couldn't believe it. He looked like Jack, but he wasn't him. Or at least, he wasn't who he had used to be. She feared he would kill her once he found her.

And all she could do was hide. Because even if she wanted to, she couldn't kill him. He had been a good friend to her ever since she had first met him. She remembered him begging her to teach him to use the throwing-knives. The irony. Only a few minutes ago had it been exactly such a throwing-knife that had almost ended her life, if it hadn't been for her quick reflexes.

His skill hadn't just improved, it had excelled hers. There wasn't the slightest resemblance of his old technique anymore. The throws were fast and powerful, and he could do them without even looking. It scared her.

She had once been his teacher, and now was his prey. It was a nightmare.

Harle moved a few steps to the side, deeper into the shadows. She winced slightly as she felt the wound at her leg again, but could do nothing to cease the pain or even stop the bleeding. The light of the cure elements would reveal her hiding-place.

Just as she reached a relatively safe corner, she heard slow, self-confident steps. Steps that seemed to know exactly where they wanted to go. They came closer.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are.", the all too familiar voice sang out, while the steps continued to come closer.

"You know, Harle, this is so much fun. Just you and me.", Jack said and laughed. "We should have done this more often, without your annoying friend."

Harle's eyes widened and she had to fight hard to suppress a gasp. A thought occurred to her that hadn't crossed her mind before. Where was Kidd? And what would Jack do to Kidd once he finished with her?

The steps were only a few metres away, and Harle looked for any ways to escape, which was almost impossible considering she had reached a dead-end Jack was quickly approaching. Harle looked around, her vision blurry from the tears that still leaked out of her eyes out of sheer desperation. She felt so helpless. So alone. She had never been more afraid to die, not even of the dragons, for she had known that the dragon's would have known a thousand other ways to let her suffer instead of simply killing her. But Jack, with his shining tools in his hands, seemed more than ready to slit her throat, or worse.

Shining. Harle saw that the throwing-knives reflected the moonlight quite visibly, just like the mirror in Riddel's room had. She could make out most of the blades he was holding. He held at least two in his right hand, probably three in the other, and one was clenched between his teeth.

She had no other choice. Taking a few cards into her hands, she aimed them at his throwing-blades. The cards trembled in her hands, and pearls of sweat formed on her head.

Another step, and Jack came to a halt merely three or four metres in front of her. She could see him clearly, for the moonlight that came through a window behind him outlined his entire body. He stood exactly in the middle of the corridor, leaving about one metre on every side to slip through.

Harle couldn't guess if Jack saw her, or just assumed her to be where she was. Maybe he had seen the stain of blood on the wall to her right, which looked like a streak of dark purple in the moonlight. Maybe he had seen her walk this way, and knew there was no way to escape. Maybe he could see her, even in the dark.

Her tears had subsided, and Harle was grateful for it, it enabled her to see clearly again. However, just how much use this was to her, was yet to prove.

"I never really understood why you cared for her. You could have had anyone. You could have had me.", Jack said and snorted.

Harle hardly heard the words he spoke, only watched his silhouette in the moonlight, waiting for the right moment. When Jack turned his face to the side, looking around, and Harle saw the outline of his face, she struck.

She leapt forward and threw three cards at his face and one at each hand. She dashed forward, not even looking for Jack's reaction, who simply grunted and used his knives to meet the cards in mid-air and pin them to the walls around him. Not one card hit its mark.

Harle didn't notice, however, as she ran past Jack's side, unconsciously avoiding the knives aimed at her thighs, and his outstretched arm that tried to halt her.

She simply ran as fast as she could, not minding where she ran, and never looking back. She didn't hear her ragged breathing as she ran, she didn't hear her loud steps echoing along the hallways, she only heard Jack, quickly approaching behind her, and the sound of knives whizzing by her ears.

She quickly scrambled up the stairs that led to the next floor, not knowing what would await her there. Reaching the top, she pressed her hands to her mouth to stop the gasped breathing for a moment and listen. She heard Jack downstairs, hoping he would take the other way, along the corridor and away from the stairs. But as she heard his heavy steps on the wooden boards, she ran again.

After the short pause, her wound at her leg hurt all the more, and Harle didn't know how much longer she could run. While running, she feebly tried to press her right hand to her thigh to stop the blood from dropping to the ground, and thus leaving an obvious trail for Jack to follow. She didn't know if she succeeded in doing that, but as she passed the next door on the way, she knew that she could run no longer. The adrenaline that had made her unconscious of the pain in her leg and the exhaustion of her body now began to loose its effect, and Harle started to feel weary and dizzy despite her fear. She had no sense of time whatsoever, but guessed that half an hour must have passed already. Half an hour since the hunt had begun. She feared it would come to an end soon. And in this long half hour, she hadn't had the time to think about her situation at all. Pure fear and desperation ruled her mind, blocking out any rational thoughts. Thoughts about why Jack had become like this, the person who could have done this to him. And most importantly, why and how he had become so incredibly strong and skilled.

Harle opened a door to her left and closed it behind her, hobbling as quickly as she could across the room, searching for a place to hide. Her eyes darted across the room wildly, and it took her a few moments to realize that she was in Riddel's room again. Only now did she remember running down a flight of stairs earlier.

Under different circumstances, she would have wondered about the lack of encounters with any soldiers. It almost seemed as if Jack and Harle were the only ones in the whole mansion. However, there was no space in her mind for any thoughts at all as she leaned down and hid under Riddel's white bed.

Laying down she allowed herself to take a few deep breaths until the familiar steps returned, impossibly slowly walking towards the door of the room she was hiding it. Again, she hoped that he would pass the room, but to no avail. It was hopeless. She simply couldn't escape from him.

The door opened with a low creak and Harle immediately ceased her breathing almost completely, for fear it would reveal her. She closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears that threatened to flow again to leak out of her eyes. A few tears escaped however, leaving a long wet trail on Harle's cheeks.

With her eyes still closed, she listened to the slow treading of Jack's boots. She heard him move a few objects, maybe the mirror or the photo on the desk, she couldn't tell where he was. Suddenly a dim light came through her lids, and she opened her eyes slowly. She saw the floor around her illuminated in a soft, flickering light. The light of a candle, maybe more.

Harle squeezed her eyes shut again, shaking her head silently. It was over. She had lost. Maybe she should have fought him more seriously. Maybe she shouldn't have fought at all.

The pain in her leg had become a steady throbbing by now, and Harle had to suppress a wince. The light, the candles. She had lost. She had lost so badly.

Her eyes opened against her will as she heard the sound of even breathing to her right. A perfectly even breathing without the slightest hint of anticipation. The smell of his breath reached her nose. It smelled sour. Like an animal's.

But as she finally turned her head she saw no animal but Jack's wide eyes and a twisted grin tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"Gotcha."

* * *

The short way to the office had been easy enough, the soldiers didn't seem very interested in them, only shooting them a glance as the passed, their shoulders straight and their faces lifted with a stern expression. It was almost too easy. Nobody had commented on their weapons either, though that may have been due to the rod and gun being covered in cloth and carried like a precious item. Eve felt silly, carrying the gun in both hands before her, as if she wanted the soldiers to take a look at it, but as Clair had told her, nobody cared for it. The plan worked well. 

They now stood in front of a door that could be no other than the door to Viper's office.

"What if he's really in there?", Eve fretted, looking to the sides anxiously.

"I don't think he will. He could be dead for all we know. And if he's actually in there, we'll still have Riddel. Don't worry so much.", Clair said and tried to reassure her, but her voice sounded colder than she wanted it to.

Clair laid her hand onto the handle and with another look to Eve, pressed it down and opened it. She was prepared to see everything, no matter how surprising or odd it might be. And of course, she was also prepared to see Viper, which she did, sitting behind his desk without even looking up as they entered.

"Go away, I have no time for you right now. Can't you manage one damn thing alone?", he grumbled, more to himself than to the soldiers, frowning over the papers in front of him as he continuously tipped his pen onto the sturdy surface of his desk.

Immediately Clair took the chance and drew her sword, pointing it towards his face. "I'm afraid we aren't your ordinary soldiers.", Clair said with a cocky smile.

Now Viper looked up slowly, and upon seeing the sword pointed at him, his eyes narrowed knowingly. "I see.", he simply said, and Clair was surprised by his calm tone.

"I'd like to make it short. You won't leave this office until you've told us what it is you plan to do. We know you're plotting something.", Clair said with a commanding voice, and Eve was once again surprised at how she handled the situation, despite having been surprised by Viper.

"Will you let me leave this office if I told you?", Viper asked, grinning.

"We…we'll see about that.", Clair answered, a little taken aback.

"I don't think so. If you knew what I am about to do, you would try to kill me on the spot, I suppose.", Viper said levelly.

"You are aware that we could do just that.", Clair said, still surprised at his behaviour. Judging from the look he had given Eve earlier he had recognized her. And for having lost in a fight against her, she couldn't believe he acted so self-confident still.

"No, you should be aware that my men are waiting outside this door to kill you if you even dare to attack me. Did you really think nobody had recognized you in these ridiculous uniforms, which are obviously too large for you?", Viper asked and laughed despite the sword still aimed at his face, quivering with anger, as if it was ready to lash out at him at any second. A loud and throaty laugh that seemed terribly out of place. Clair noticed the communicator that lay beside Viper's elbow on the desk. "Oh well, I still have a lot to do, if you'll excuse me."

By now, Eve had loaded her gun and pointed it at Viper. Clair nodded approvingly and turned to Viper again. "I don't think you're in any position to make fun of us. If you do, it will be at the expense of your dear daughter's well-being."

Now Viper stared at him and seemed to take a look at them seriously for the first time. His self-confident smile turned into an angry grimace. "What are you saying?"

Clair's smile grew considerably, as if to counter Viper's ugly grimace. "I am saying that you'd better do what we ask of you or your daughter won't live to see the next day."

At these words, Viper rose, already moving his hand as if to call his soldiers, when Clair interrupted him.

"I don't advise you to try to kill us, Viper. If we won't be back at the place where we keep her in two hours, someone will kill her.", Clair said, a pearl of sweat on her forehead. She was bluffing too hard, but she couldn't help it. Things had turned out worse than she had expected, and outside the door probably stood enough soldiers to finish them off in seconds. Riddel was everything they had left. "You'd be surprised of what kind of people you meet, and what they'll do for you for a little payment. Of course, you would know this best.", Clair added.

Viper was merely gaping by now and reluctantly sat back down.

"Now, dismiss your bodyguards.", Clair ordered and shook her head in direction of the door, where she presumed at least five soldiers to be.

"No, I can't do that.", Viper replied. Clair already wanted to snap at him when she saw his distressed and suddenly weak expression. "But I won't call them in, either."

His face was literally a white flag to them, but Clair was still sceptical. After all, he could be acting and bluffing as much as they did. She was determined not to fall for a trick she used herself.

"You know, I wonder why you are doing this. You are only two women and yet you try to go against a whole army. Even going so far as to involve people that have nothing to do with all this. What do you gain from this?", Viper asked, without a hint of superiority.

"Freedom.", Clair simply answered. "And the knowledge to have stopped someone who messes with other people's lives. You know, even if it turned out that you aren't storing anything suspicious here, even if it turned out that you don't have any mad plans that will cost countless people's lives, I would still stop you. As a revenge for Harle and Kidd. Attempting to kill them several times, just because they stole those stupid maps from you. I would still stop you, because you are mad."

Viper looked at them as if he was impressed, nodding gravely. "My, my, that girl really has a lot of admirers.", he said and chuckled to himself. "To think that she has killed so many people and just some time ago would have willingly eliminated every human on earth…despite all that, you treat her like a goddess." Viper eyed them expectantly, then laughed again. "Oh excuse me, I forgot. She is a goddess."

"Who are you talking about?", Clair snapped irritated. She didn't like being played with, and Viper was obviously trying just that. She felt like she already stepped into his trap, but refused to let her worries show. She quickly glanced over to Eve, who just stood and stared at Viper, seemingly frozen in place. She looked scared.

"Why, Harle of course. Don't tell me you didn't know? How she had mercilessly killed countless children with burning down an orphanage?" By now, Viper's sick smile was fully restored and Clair's, as its counterpart, had completely vanished. For the first time ever since Lynx had been defeated and their plans foiled, he was glad that Lynx had told her so much about his companion. Viper still remembered how content he had seemed whenever he talked of Harle's evil doings, like a teacher who is proud of his student's achievements. Even though Lynx usually hadn't talked much. And as for the dragon part, Kidd herself had told him that the dragons had once chased after Harle. Everyone who had been involved in the incidents that concerned Fate knew it, even though the topic had long lost its explosive nature. But Viper knew, that even old news was valuable to someone who had not heard it yet.

"You're lying. But you know what? I won't fall for it. Tell me everything you want, I won't believe a word!", Clair shouted at him, even though she felt like crying. It couldn't be true, could it? It just couldn't.

"Now, let me tell you something. Let me tell you what you know. You know nothing.", Viper said and his voice grew louder with each sentence. "People who don't know anything, can't understand anything either. You're merely clutching to one of two sides blindly, calling one side right, and one side wrong. You're so self-deluding, you don't even know what you are doing this for! Why are you risking your lives?", Viper asked even though it sounded more like a shout. He eyed Clair with a hard expression.

"Just look at your friend! Does someone who wants to fight look like that? Does someone who knows what to fight for look like that!", Viper yelled and Clair couldn't help but stumble a few steps backwards, staring at Eve. She looked so scared, so lost. Like a child who had been left alone in the rain. A child _she _had left alone. Clair didn't notice her sword dropping out of her hand.

"Now get out of my sight.", Viper said angrily, looking to the door. "Guards!" Within mere seconds, the door swung open and the room was filled with at least six more people. Clair was too dizzy and overwhelmed to count them. Eve looked to Clair, but saw that Clair was unable to do something right now.

"H…hold it!", Eve yelled, but her voice sounded too high and weak. She had to go on, however. "Did you forget about…your daughter?", she asked, then sighed. She had been awfully close to calling her "lady Riddel", which would have all but spoiled it.

"Stop bluffing, already. Do you really think I'll believe a single word of yours? Just take a look at yourselves! You weren't able to kill me, back on the ship. And you're not able to kill an innocent woman either! Pathetic traitors."

Eve couldn't respond to this. It was simply too much for her. Everything he had said…she didn't want to believe it, but it sounded so true. The thing about Harle…and their lack of knowledge too. It was true that she didn't know anything. She had suspected Viper solely because of what Kidd had told her. But in the end, she couldn't tell if she hadn't just been tricked by them. They could have told them lies, all along. How would she know?

Eve's train of thought was harshly interrupted as Viper called out to his guards, who by now had surrounded them with drawn swords and a few guns as well.

"Get rid of them, now! And after this, we're leaving. We'll just take the most necessary things. Understood?"

"Yes, sir!", the soldiers immediately called in unison.

Before Eve could do something, her arms were grabbed by strong hands, and twisted at a painful angle until they were pressed against her back. The soldiers did the same to Clair, who didn't resist in the least.

Together, they were swiftly carried along the corridors until they reached the outside. Here the soldiers seemed a little indecisive, for Eve felt being dragged to the right, then the left, but finally forward. She didn't bother to look where they were being carried to, it was no use anyway. She just hoped that they would take a clear shot at her head, instead of piercing her heart with their swords.

"What shall we do with them?", Eve heard one of the soldiers ask.

"Viper said to get rid of them, whatever that meant.", another replied and snorted.

"C'mon, they're just women. How much could they possibly do?", a third joked. Usually, Eve would have disembowelled him just for this remark, but it was no use to struggle in her situation. It would only make it worse.

"You're right. We'll just beat them up good and be gone before they wake up again. _If _they ever wake up again.", the first one said and laughed, and the others joined in.

"Having fun, are you?", Clair suddenly asked, and Eve looked up from where she was being held, seeing a strange smile on her lips. Her eyes were eerily glassy, and her smile held no emotion.

"Shut up, you bitch!", a soldier shouted and Eve watched in terror as he struck Clair across the face while another held her in place. "That'll teach you."

"I think you should give her another one, for being so cocky.", another soldier suggested and laughed.

"You're right, she really has a big mouth, considering her situation.", the first one said again and reached back to strike her again.

That was it. She had seen enough. She may have been silent this whole evening, and probably this whole mess was her fault, but and maybe just because of that she couldn't let them just hit Clair like that. Didn't they see her face? Couldn't they see those distant eyes?

"Take your bloody hands off her, you bastards!", Eve yelled before she knew what she was doing. Every soldier turned to her, watching her as if she was mad. "Do…do it to me if you have to, but leave her out of it.", Eve added, her voice slightly lower.

"You heard that?", a soldier asked and laughed, then walked to stand in front of Eve, who was still being held. "Maybe we should kill them after all, ungrateful people like that." After the sentence left his mouth, he raised his knee and rammed it directly into Eve's stomach. Eve gritted her teeth and didn't scream, but started to see things before her eyes and hung now limply in the other soldier's grasp, unable to stand with her own strength. More strikes and kicks followed, too fast for her to see from which direction they came, and too hard for her to try anything else than keeping her consciousness, which became harder with each blow. At one point she lost her vision for a moment, seeing nothing but blackness until she felt a new pain in her back. At first she thought it was the tip of a sword being pierced into her back, but after a few moments she realized that it had been someone's elbow.

Aside from a few grunts and laughs, nobody talked anymore, and in the few seconds where she wasn't being hit or kicked, she could even hear the sounds of an owl. She didn't hear Clair's voice at all, didn't even know if she was still there.

Just when Eve thought she could take no more, she received one more kick into her already bruised stomach and they finally let go of her, leaving her to stumble to the ground, coughing and panting.

"You asked for it, so you better not complain.", a voice came again, chuckling at Eve's form on the ground, weak and miserable.

"As for you.", he said and Eve thought that his voice had gotten a little quieter, as if he had turned his head. He probably had, she couldn't see. "I wish we had a little more time to play, but Viper wants us back so we'll end this quickly."

Eve could only hear a gasped cry, the soldier probably having punched her in the stomach. She wanted to say something, but her lips quivered too much to bring out a word.

She didn't hear much after this, aside from Clair falling to the ground and the steps the soldiers took as they walked away from them.

"Hey, do you really think we should leave them like that? What if they-", Eve could hear one of them ask before he was interrupted by another.

"Then we'll have some fun with them again." At that, all of them laughed, and Eve listened, until she couldn't hear them anymore.

After they were gone, Eve tried to move again and roll around so she could face Clair, who had to be lying somewhere behind her. It took her a while to do so but eventually she succeeded and turned to see her friend lying on her back, her eyes looking up to the sky.

"Hey Clair…you alright?", Eve asked and was surprised how weak and hoarse her voice sounded.

Just seconds after she had asked this, tears started to roll down Clair's cheeks, the moonlight highlighting them, making them look like they were made of silver.

"…Clair?", Eve asked again, but received no reply. She gave up for the moment, she was just glad that Clair was conscious. That would make it easier to heal her. With her less bruised left arm, she rummaged in her pockets, hoping to find at least one Cure or Heal element. After a while, she did, and pulled the Cure element out. She held it in both of her hands, concentrating. After a while, it started to glow, and Eve looked up to Clair.

"Stop that.", Clair suddenly said in a hushed whisper and the glow immediately faded. Eve looked at her with a puzzled expression, not quite understanding.

"Your condition is worse than mine. Heal yourself first.", Clair answered to the unasked question, still looking up to the stars.

Eve looked at Clair worriedly, but in the end healed herself, for she didn't know how much longer she would have enough stamina to cast an element at all. As she did, she felt as if her body became lighter, and the worst pain in her stomach subsided, along with a few bruises. But as a result, she was so tired she could hardly move anymore, and just settled with laying on her back, like Clair did.

They didn't speak for quite a while. Clair still cried silently, and Eve tried to stretch her arm to wipe the tears away, but her arm was too short and tired and fell limply to the ground halfway.

"We really messed up this time, huh?", Eve said and chuckled lightly. Laughing would have hurt too much.

"I'm sorry.", came the quiet reply. Eve turned her head to the side, smiling.

"It's not your fault. They were just too many for us, and this whole mission too much for us to handle. We simply shouldn't have gone in there at all.", Eve said and coughed. Her throat was terribly dry and it hurt to speak. Not that she let that stop her.

"Probably. But now Viper knows about us and will escape.", Clair spoke, her voice laden with guilt.

"I bet he will.", Eve said simply, as if it was her smallest worry. "We'll get him next time."

"Do you really want to continue this?", Clair asked in disbelief. "After they've done this…" At that she trailed off, and new tears came forth. "I'm so sorry.", she repeated. "You shouldn't have told them to hit you instead of me."

"You just shouldn't have started to get cocky on them.", Eve said and laughed unintentionally, but soon stopped as her lungs and stomach began to hurt.

"It's nothing too serious. I'll just have to lay down for a while.", Eve said in the most reassuring voice she could muster. She was getting cold, but at the same time thought that laying in the cold for a few hours couldn't be half as bad as actually trying to stand up.

"We'll get him next time, for sure. Viper seems to have enough problems on his own, it didn't seem like everything was going smoothly for him.", Eve spoke, but wasn't really sure why she said it. Maybe she just wanted to cheer Clair up a little. She didn't succeed in the least.

"What do we do about Riddel?", Clair asked, not bothering to add the honorific. It didn't matter anymore. "Viper didn't believe us, what do you think he will do?"

Eve looked surprised, as if she hadn't thought about Riddel at all. "I don't know, I guess he'll send some of his men to look for her. He can't be as conceited as to not look for her." 'He had just wanted to intimidate us with talking as if he didn't care', Eve wanted to add, but decided not to. After all, she had wholly fallen into his trap. For a moment she had really thought that what he said was true. She knew better now, but it was too late. She just had to admit that she had been too scared and confused to do anything. She just had to live with that, now. But she would make up for this, definitely.

"I guess they'll find her soon enough, we didn't hide her very well.", Clair said, sounding as if she was almost regretting that fact. She turned her head a bit, for the first time interested where they really were. She could see the warehouse, but it was pretty far away. She hadn't thought the soldiers had carried them this far. She couldn't see much except a row of figures leaving the building, but she guessed they couldn't see them from there. They walked into the opposite direction as well. Clair frowned.

"Why are you looking like this, Clair?", Eve asked, her voice gentle. "This whole day, you've been so distant and sad. Why is that?" Eve frowned, not really liking the way her question sounded.

Clair didn't answer, nor did she look at Eve. For a moment Eve thought she had heard a quiet sob.

"I mean, we're alright now, aren't we? We'll just rest a bit and get back to the ship, then try to find out where Viper is. Why were you so sad all these last days? It's not…like you.", Eve said tentatively, doubting that she would get an answer this time.

"You wouldn't understand.", came the short reply.

"Why don't you try it?", Eve asked softly, and stretched her arm again, this time succeeding in touching Clair's hand. She felt Clair flinch, but she didn't pull it away.

"I can't.", Clair said, and it was true. How could she tell Eve everything she felt? All this guilt, all those unrequited feelings. She just couldn't bear it.

"Is it about the battle on the ship still?", Eve asked, having no intention to give up this easily. "Or is it…about me?" Eve could feel a faint blush creep onto her cheeks, and she felt almost stupid for asking such a question.

To her surprise, Clair chuckled. "How presumptuous."

"I bet you think I'm terribly insensitive.", Eve said and grinned, looking at Clair. Finally Clair turned her head to meet Eve's gaze on her. She smiled. And Eve saw a small spark of hope in those eyes.

It was only mere minutes afterward that the warehouse exploded in a sea of flames.

* * *

Now, after what felt like more than one hour of searching, she finally admitted that it had been stupid to look for anything useful in the basement of the mansion. She felt as if she had looked into at least a hundred rooms, and everyone had looked the same. And every one of them had been empty, and almost devoid of any kind of furniture. Kidd couldn't get rid of the thought that these rooms seemed like cells, only more noble ones. But then, the doors didn't have any special lock, so it was hardly possible to imprison a person in one of these without having him ram the door out of its angle or pick the lock in no time. 

But still, there weren't that many doors left, so Kidd might as well check the few ones left too before she went upstairs again. She wondered what Harle was doing right now, and chuckled. Surely not wasting her time like she did. Maybe she had already tied Viper up in his office, and now searched through his papers. But more probably, she had encountered as much resistance as she had, that was, none at all. Not a single soldier had shown himself, nothing at all that tried to stop them.

She had heard a few hollow noises from upstairs earlier, but now she thought it must have been her imagination. The whole mansion seemed dead, or just terribly cooperative. It seemed too suspicious, and Kidd had reminded herself over and over not to let her guard down, even though it was tempting.

With careful steps she approached the last door of the corridor. She knew there was one more corridor where she hadn't looked yet, she would go there after this. But first she had to try this door, behind which she suspected just another plain and empty room, even though the door looked slightly different from the other ones. It was taller and broader, and as she came closer, she saw the handle had the shape of a viper's head. Kidd almost gasped at the unsuspected sight, but then smiled confidently, chiding herself for having thought this a useless search. It seemed Viper cared about his things after all, so he wisely chose an unlikely place for his bureau. He hadn't expected Kidd's genius though.

With a grin on her face she opened the door, but was still wary and held her dagger in front of her. The room was large and tall, unlike the small and stuffy office she had expected, and Kidd had trouble to see just how far it reached in the darkness. Kidd walked a few steps and sniffed. The room smelled strange. It wasn't a pleasant smell and Kidd thought about where she knew this smell from when she suddenly heard a myriad of shrieks and cries that made her stumble backwards and cry out in shock. She fell down onto the floor but quickly scrambled up again to defend herself against whatever it was that wanted to attack her, but soon enough, the shrieks ceased and diminished to a low mumbling.

Kidd stood defensively for a few moments, but then relaxed and looked around more calmly. She spotted a candle on a table nearby and lit it without much thinking. She wouldn't be able to find anything useful in this darkness, after all.

However, what she saw as she lit the candle made her cry out once again, staring at her surroundings.

There were cages, lining the walls of the entire room, three rows of them. Where the light reached beyond the bars of the cages, Kidd could see eyes staring at her. Eerie eyes, some yellow, some red. They were all watching her. Kidd's hand trembled slightly, causing the light of the candle to flicker stronger, bathing the room in an even scarier light.

"It's all right Kidd, they're in bloody cages, they can't come out and kill ya. Probably.", Kidd whispered to calm herself but failed miserably, for her hands still shook as much as before. But after a few moments she gathered up enough courage and tentatively approached one of the cages near her. There was an animal behind it, though Kidd couldn't quite figure out which one it was. Upon the first look, it seemed like an Alphabat, but it had legs and arms in addition to its wings. It seemed most strange.

Kidd shrugged and turned her eyes off the strange being and looked into the other cages. There was a Bulb, but instead of being yellow it was green. Kidd frowned at it, wondering what use this change of colour had for the being. But as it began to squeak under Kidd's scrutinizing gaze, she turned away and walked towards a cupboard with rows of unknown objects. Transparent bottles and cups filled with strange fluids stood among them, and oddly shaped knives and other tools scary enough for Kidd not to touch them.

With another look around, Kidd finally concluded: She was in a lab. And she only knew one person whom it could belong to. The thought made her shiver, and she turned around, intent to leave the room. She wouldn't find much here. 'Except creepy living things.', she thought grimly as she passed a rather large glass tube with what seemed like an embryo with wings.

"Do you have any business here?", a stern voice asked suddenly, and Kidd flinched and turned to the door. A tall woman with glasses stood there, with drawn cards in her hands. Her hair was a deep purple and a few loose strands hung into her face, while the rest was neatly combed behind her ears. She wore white clothes which seemed more like a lab coat than anything ordinary.

"Luccia!", Kidd yelled after her first perplexity left her. "Whaddaya want from me?"

Luccia, who stood in the doorway, with her hip at the frame and her arms crossed, simply laughed. "I am the one who should ask that." The words came out slow but strong and Kidd held her dagger defensively in front of her head. "You should not be here." She walked closer to Kidd, the cards in her hands relaxed. She had no real interest in fighting, but if it came to it, she would be prepared. She doubted Kidd would surrender herself without a fight. "But I know what you want."

Kidd laughed at that. "Oh, really? Then ya should know that I'll stop ya right here and then find out what Viper's plottin'. Don't think ya get away with what you're doin'!"

Luccia simply shrugged, unimpressed by Kidd's words. "You don't even know _what _we are doing. You cannot stop me, and you cannot stop him."

Kidd had enough. She wouldn't waste her time with talking, she was better with fighting anyway. She threw the candle she was holding onto the floor charged Luccia with her dagger in both hands, and Luccia could do little other than throwing the cards she was holding at Kidd, aiming at her face. Kidd's dagger tore through the cards effortlessly, but once she had fend off all of them, Luccia was nowhere to be seen.

"Come out and show yerself!", she yelled while looking around wildly. Now with her candle out, it was too dark to be able to see every corner. She had to be cautious.

"Too scared, eh?", she asked and laughed while walking across the room in an attempt to find her. No answer came forth and when her look fell onto the open door, she smacked her head and ran out of the lab.

Outside, a dozen sharp-edged throwing cards came rushing towards her and Kidd did a dive to the side to avoid being hit. While still in mid-air, she heard Luccia run away and quickly landed on her feet to dash after her. No way was she going to let her escape!

She ran as quickly as she could but the sounds of Luccia's footsteps were all she could follow in the dim corridors of the basement, and it made avoiding the occasional throwing cards quite difficult.

Kidd barely escaped being blinded by a card which was aimed at her right eye when she reached the stairs that lead upwards. She could hear Luccia above her and dashed after her, taking two steps at once. She knew where these stairs lead, they were the same she had used on the way down, they would lead her to a hallway that would end in the entrance hall. She couldn't let her reach the entrance hall, it would give Luccia too many chances to attack her from all sides.

Kidd cursed to herself. She couldn't say who the hunter was and who the prey. She also cursed herself for having such a disadvantage against wide-range weapons like throwing cards with her dagger. She had often thought about carrying two weapons, but up until now, it hadn't been necessary. She would need to rethink this.

But for now, her sole weapon was a Prism Dagger, and the entrance hall came nearer with every step.

"Now stop runnin' ya bloody old hag!", Kidd shouted after her, even though she knew that Luccia was far too clever to do that, she knew the advantages that the entrance hall would give her. But Kidd refused to be outsmarted by a mad scientist just yet.

Kidd's dagger tore through four more cards until she reached the entrance hall at last, just as she had feared she would. Without even looking which direction Luccia took, she immediately ran to the side and took cover behind a tall statue which hid her body from view, even though she doubted Luccia would be able to see her in the dark, even if she stood exposed. However, Kidd guessed that she would randomly throw card at the places where she suspected Kidd to be, and upon movement immediately knew where she was. It wasn't the most effective strategy, but Luccia would be on the safe side, while Kidd didn't know where the cards would come from.

Kidd took a deep breath, thinking about a possibility to turn the fight into a short-ranged one. She didn't come up with an idea and sighed when Luccia suddenly lit a big candle holder in the centre of the hall. The hall was illuminated in a soft glow, and Kidd turned her head to look at the candle holder. Luccia was nowhere near it. She wondered what use it was to her to have the room lit.

"Come out already.", Kidd whispered to herself, wiping the sweat off her brow. Maybe Luccia was gone already, calling soldiers. Kidd wouldn't know, even though Luccia didn't strike her as the kind of person who would rely on all kinds of cheap tricks. She was a proud woman, even though she was mad.

Kidd took out a fireball element, ready to strike the second she saw a glimpse of the other woman. But it was no use, as long as both of them hid, waiting for the other to come out first. If she wanted things to go her way, she had to take the initiative.

With a quick glance around, she cast her Fireball element on a random spot in the hall and upon hearing the noise of the impact, she darted along the wall to reach another statue about a few metres away from her. However, something struck her leg halfway, and she tumbled to the ground, losing the dagger out of her grasp.

Kidd quickly tried to stand up again, but groaned at the pain in her leg and fell down. She looked down at the wound and saw that one of Luccia's cards stuck into her thigh halfway, and the wound bled profusely onto the floor. The backside of the card faced her, it was all black except of a small white snake in its centre. Kidd moved her hand to remove the card when she noticed Luccia standing next to her, a single card in her hand. The ace of spades.

"You shouldn't struggle, it will only intensify the pain.", Luccia said calmly, and the corners of her mouth moved upwards to form a slight grin. "The pain of this card cutting deep into your throat, for example."

"Whaddaya gonna do now, huh? Kill me? Just go ahead if ya dare.", Kidd spat at her, trying to keep her cool while fumbling in her pocket to find a useful element without Luccia noticing.

"Killing you will give me no satisfaction.", Luccia stated simply, regarding Kidd. She had different plans with her. It would be too much of a waste for this strong and enduring body to simply die. "But what about…her?" Luccia's grin grew as she said this and Kidd stared at her before looking around, trying to find out what she meant.

"Come closer…Jack.", Luccia ordered calmly, still looking at Kidd.

Kidd's eyes widened at Luccia's words, and as soon as she heard steps from behind Luccia, she gasped. Jack was standing there, holding an unconscious and scarred Harle in his arms.

"Wha…what does this mean? Jack! Whaddaya doin'!", Kidd cried, her look darting between Luccia and Jack.

"Bring her over here, Jack.", came the next order from Luccia. Jack followed it silently and brought Harle closer.

"Let her go right now!", Kidd shouted furiously and attempted to stand up, but the sharp card pressed to her throat halted her.

"You better stop now, or I will kill you, after all.", Luccia spoke, her voice even aside from the slight exhilarated undertone.

Kidd gritted her teeth and watched Harle desperately.

"Now you know that you should not have messed with us."

Kidd was at a loss. She couldn't stand up without risking her throat to be slit, and even if she succeeded in doing so, Harle was still in Jack's control. Kidd eyed Jack and frowned. She had no trouble to imagine who had made him the way he was now, even though she wasn't sure if Jack was completely innocent. The way he was now, it was too hard to think of him nicely.

"You won't get away with this.", Kidd said dangerously, gazing at Luccia.

"I believe I-", Luccia said before a voice stopped her.

"Luccia!" It was Riddel, standing in the door and gasping for air. Her hair was tousled and her face sweaty, and the jacket she wore was too big for her slim form. "What are you doing? Luccia!" Her voice was desperate and incredulous at the same time. Tears were already forming in her eyes as she moved her eyes from Luccia, to Kidd, and to Jack with Harle in his arms.

Luccia was unable to respond. She hadn't realized that the card she had been holding so close to Kidd's throat now lay on the floor. Her fingers trembled and her head away from the door. She couldn't bear seeing her. Not when she was like this.

"Geh weg!", she shouted, only to shake her head in aggravation. "Just…go away.", she whispered, her voice suddenly faint.

"Luccia!", Riddel shouted again, her voice heartbreaking. "Luccia…"

A/N#2: Sooo, for all those who didn't already guess who this "mysterious woman" was, you know now. And before you go "But she had such a thick accent in the game!", I know that and the (almost complete) lack thereof is intended ; ) In case anyone is wondering, she has a German accent. I always thought it sounded more Russian, but the official strategy guide says it's German, so I'll have to do that. German is easier for me anyway, because I only know two Russian words lol. The translator I mentioned above also translates German, so you shouldn't have any problems with her accent, even though I'll try to make it understandable so you won't need to look up every word.

Oh well, I hope you liked this chapter and will look forward to the next one, "Of love and envy", which will be quite different from the ones before. Some people will want to kill me for it, I know it XD

Anyway, happy holidays to everyone who reads this!


	15. Of love and envy

A/N: This took some time to get done (as usual), but bear with me. It's pretty long again, but I hope no one minds. Believe me, if I had known a way to make this shorter, I would have done it. And dividing this chapter into two was out of the question. Oh well. Thanks for the reviews as usual, I hope I get a few for this chapter even though it's pretty...weird and unusual, even for me.

at writer-jm: I hope you're aware that this chapter is entirely your fault, for if you hadn't mentioned Riddel in one of your earlier reviews, I probably would have never thought of including her into the story, and this chapter would have never, ever happened. Just so you know : P

Chapter 15 – Of love and envy

"Luccia…" Hearing her name spoken with such desperation and disappointment made Luccia want to cry out in agony. She couldn't bear it. Her mind tried to stop them, but her eyes nevertheless moved to see Riddel standing at the door, the shock written all over her face.

It hadn't been for her to see. She had wanted to prevent Riddel from seeing such things. But it was too late. Riddel now saw her for the person she really was. And it hurt Luccia more than she could have imagined.

She turned her eyes away in shame, she couldn't stand looking into Riddel's confused and helpless face. She feared this look would never leave her face again. She feared that Riddel would never smile, at her, again.

Memories of a time long ago flooded her mind. Memories of her first years at Viper's mansion, memories of Riddel. Memories she never wanted to forget.

It had been a good time, back then. A good time, ten years ago…

"_Who're you?", the girl asked. She panted and her cheeks were flushed, but she wore an eager smile on her lips, one that wasn't yet corrupted by the dullness of age that had come unto herself all too soon. _

_It was a simple question, but one Luccia found hard to answer considering the circumstances. _

"_Luccia.", came the answer, which would have sounded almost shy if it weren't for the deep tone of her voice. The younger girl didn't seem fazed. _

_She had just recently started working for Viper, and she didn't regret it one bit. The people back on the Zenan Mainland hadn't appreciated her, not after Lucca had died. She had said that she would follow in Lucca's footsteps. She really wanted to, but she also knew that she wished to do it better. She wouldn't rely on simple metal and construct machines, however useful they might be. She would create even more useful things, of living matter. The people on the Zenan Mainland had called her mad. They hadn't wanted her there._

_But her home was in El Nido now, under the care of Viper, who knew what she was capable of, and appreciated it. He was the only one who could see behind her glasses and thick accent, the only one who saw her for the genius she was. At least she liked to think that. They didn't speak very often, Viper seemed to be a busy man and she was just content with spending her days in her laboratory, experimenting. _

_The equipment was grand, she had everything an aspiring scientist could ever ask for. Her resources were plenty, and above all, she had time. Viper didn't push her, didn't expect groundbreaking results from her in an impossible time frame, he just let her do as she pleased. He was very generous. _

"_That's a nice name.", the girl, who still stood in the doorway, said, favouring Luccia with a small smile. _

"_Vho are you, den?", she asked the little girl. In her three weeks of working here, she hadn't seen her even once, even though the girl seemed to be quite familiar with this place, considering she knew, and dared to go, all the way down to the basement and her lab. In a spotless white dress, Luccia noted, regarding the girl's dress more closely. Even though it was dark and damp down here, this girl didn't seem to be afraid of getting dirty. _

"_My name is Riddel. Pleased to meet you, Luccia.", the girl replied and made a curtsey, only to giggle at herself afterward._

_Riddel. Luccia knew that name. It was the name of Viper's daughter, whom she had heard many things about. Good things, naturally. _

_In the short time since Luccia had started working here, she had barely finished sorting her equipment and starting some genuine experiments. Her lab was down in the basement and hardly anyone ever passed by, so Luccia was used to a silence that was merely destroyed due to her occasional shouts or laughs whenever she did something out of the ordinary. Which didn't happen very often. _

_Used to this silence, Luccia had been all the more surprised and shocked when she heard her door swing open abruptly, revealing a young girl standing in the doorway. Riddel._

"_Vot did you kom here for?", Luccia asked the strange girl, her voice more unwelcoming than intended, which was nevertheless quite usual for her. However, instead of shirking back, the girl smiled knowingly._

"_I heard a witch lived down here." The answer was shockingly honest, and Luccia clenched her fists as she stared at Riddel, searching her eyes for hints of malicious intentions. She found none, however. "So I came to look. I've never seen one before and wanted to see if they're really as scary as everyone says."_

"_Dis is amusing. Did you find de witch, girl?", Luccia asked darkly, slowly walking towards the girl. She was a good deal taller than Riddel, and her glasses reflected the light from the corridor eerily, the reflection hiding her eyes from Riddel's view completely. _

"_No, just you. I guess daddy's soldiers made the story up, after all.", the girl said and shrugged, moving her head slightly to the side to get a view of Luccia's eyes. "How old are you?"_

"_Tventy.", Luccia answered and turned away from her. She preferred to give short answers, especially to people she didn't know what to think of. And Riddel definitely was such a person. Luccia was aware that she was probably expected to be kind to the girl, but Riddel's attitude was just too startling for her to indulge in this kind of sympathy. _

"_You look so much older than that.", Riddel commented, and Luccia turned around angrily._

"_Didn't your fat'er teach you any manners?", she asked, fuming. Only a mere minute had passed and she already had enough of her.. _

_She was used to being alone, she was used to silence. And none of her experiments with all kinds of living beings had ever prepared her to deal with such an irritating child. _

_Even more to feed her anger, Riddel started giggling and Luccia dreaded the girl's next words. To her surprise however, they came out very gentle and apologetic._

"_I'm sorry, I didn't mean it like that. It's just, you look much more intelligent and knowing than any normal person of twenty years.", Riddel explained, sighing as she saw the frown on Luccia's face intensify._

"_So vot you are saying is dat I am not normal?", Luccia inquired, her voice calm, having lost the edge it had possessed only seconds before._

"_No, no.", Riddel said quickly, shaking her head to emphasize. "I…I don't mean it in a negative way…" Her voice was low and hesitating, and Luccia could tell that she was getting frustrated. It made Luccia's lips curl up in a smile. She was glad to finally have the upper hand in this extraordinary conversation. _

"_I understand.", she finally said to relieve the other girl of her stuttering and fumbling. "Now please go, I have vork to attend to."_

_At this, Riddel looked up and her eyes widened. "Work? This late? The sun's almost going down!", she scolded, a scandalized look on her face._

"_I do not vork according to de sunlight. Artificial light has de same effects for my photosynt'esis experiments." Her answer was simple and logical, but unlike her expectations, it didn't possess the necessary effect to end the debate. _

"_But it doesn't have the same effect for you. Look, you're so pale, even more than I am! Let's go outside, now!", Riddel said and reached for Luccia's arm. _

_Luccia frowned at the tone of the younger girl, she spoke as if she was used to get what she wanted. And seeing how she herself was close to giving up, that wasn't so hard to imagine. _

_The tugging at her arm continued for a few moments until Luccia yanked her arm away. "I really don't have de time for dis. Please leave."_

"_No way!", Riddel answered immediately, and as Luccia turned to look at her again, she half expected her to stomp her foot in frustration, which was quite far from the truth. In fact, the young girl was laughing at her refusal, and got hold of the arm again. _

"_Now don't struggle so much. Just come out with me and watch the sunset, it's more fun than working down here. You can do that once it's dark. You're even worse than Glenn and Dario, they're always talking about training. Really, what's so bad about taking a break now and then?", she asked and Luccia found that she couldn't find a suitable answer. It was true that going outside may be completely unnecessary, but it might clear her head a little. She wondered why she needed someone younger than herself to realize that._

_Finally, she gave in to the tugging and followed Riddel towards the door. "After de sunset, I vill ask you to leave me alone wit' my vork."_

_Riddel just nodded eagerly, and Luccia doubted that she had really acknowledged it, but it was too late now, for they were already heading upstairs. _

_So this was Riddel. Luccia knew that she was barely sixteen, and was said to be the purest soul anyone could ever meet. She was supposedly gentle, honest, and owned an innocence that was unsurpassed by any other living being. Which had made Riddel the epitome of a rich daughter in Luccia's thoughts, and she had thought that she would be put off by the girl's overly nice manners and childishly innocent antics. Luccia hadn't trusted her even before they first met, and had already prepared herself to hear of the dark core beneath Riddel's nice exterior sooner or later. It didn't happen until now, and now that her image of the younger girl had more than a few cracks, she doubted it could get much worse._

"_Now come on, don't walk so slowly!", Riddel chided as she dragged her along the corridors, passing by surprised soldiers. Luccia tried not to look at them, for she knew that they disliked her and obviously made up ridiculous stories, but as she turned to shoot them an angry glare, she saw that they looked almost frightened, staring at her, but most of all at Riddel. _

"_L-lady Riddel! Where are you going?", one of them gathered the nerve to ask, but Luccia knew that he had actually wanted to ask: "Where are you going with someone like her?"_

"_I'm just going outside with my new friend, so don't worry.", Riddel answered without looking at them, seemingly completely unaware of the actual worry of the soldiers. It was this irony that made Luccia chuckle, which immediately drew the looks onto her. Luccia hated herself for having done it the moment she noticed the stares. She had always thought that her laugh sounded dark and almost malicious, unfitting for a twenty-year old, really. _

"_You should laugh more often.", Riddel said to her surprise. The younger girl had the habit of surprising her with almost everything she said, even though Luccia had always liked to think of herself as someone who could calculate others pretty well. "It makes you seem nicer and not as gloomy as you pretend to be. Right guys?", Riddel asked and beamed at the soldiers who gulped and merely nodded quickly. Their utter obedience to this girl made Luccia almost chuckle anew, even though she felt a pang of envy along with it. Surely this girl had not earned her respect through something she did, but rather through the money and prowess her father possessed. She had always found such things disgusting, but she knew that she just wished that she had been treated the same way when she had been younger. It was just utter envy._

_Before Luccia could drown in her depressing thoughts, fierce rays of sunlight intruded her unaccustomed eyes, and she shut them tightly, just slowly opening them again a few seconds later. That was why she hated sunlight and cherished the dimness of her laboratory. Sunlight was plain aggressive to her eyes, while artificial light was much more bearable. _

_But eventually, after she succeeded to get accustomed to the relatively weak light, as Riddel considered it, she took a deep breath as she laid her eyes upon the scenery in front of her. It was quite appealing, even to her, at times morbid, sense of beauty. The fresh air, which she hadn't breathed for three weeks, smelled unusually nice, and for the first time in a long while, Luccia wondered about the things she was missing while experimenting. Surely they couldn't be that grand, not compared to the grandness that would be her success in bioengineering. But she had to admit, that outside of her laboratory, there just might be some moderately enjoyable things, one of which she was participating in right now._

"_Isn't it beautiful?", Riddel asked and pointed to the horizon, which was tinged in all kinds of hues of red and orange. "You can't say that artificial light is better than that." Riddel had a superior smile on her lips as she said this, but Luccia wasn't annoyed by it anymore._

"_I don't choose de preferred form of light according to its subjective beauty.", she answered, but as she saw Riddel's smile fall, she added: "It still is a vonderful sight."_

"_I knew you would like it.", Riddel said and beamed, twirling around in the grass near the cliff, which lead all the way down to the ocean. At first she had been uneasy about playing so near the cliff, but the sight was just too pretty to keep her away for long. After a while of dancing around she sat down in the grass and patted the spot next to her to have Luccia sit down as well, which she did after some hesitation. _

"_You know…", Riddel started after a few moments, her voice soft and without the slightest hint of anything other than utter innocence, "sometimes, when I sit here and look at the sunset above the ocean, and then look at the manor, with its roof golden from the light, I feel like a real princess. The manor is the castle and Dario and Glenn would be my knights. They would always spend time with me, always have their eyes on me, to make sure I was safe. Sometimes I wish it was true. Do you think it's odd, thinking about such things? You must think I behave like an eight-year old." She chuckled at the last remark, but Luccia also sensed a hint of sadness. _

"_You already are a princess, vot more do you vant?", Luccia replied. "You are rich, you have noble friends and a gentle fat'er. Dere is not'ing you must do. Is dere any more you wish for?" Luccia tried to sound as gentle as possible, but actually she was a little angered. The girl beside her had everything she wanted without ever having done something to gain it. She couldn't possible ask for more._

"_You're right, I shouldn't complain. I have so much other people don't have, and yet I'm asking for more. You must think I'm a terrible person." To Luccia's surprise, Riddel's voice sounded sad and heavy as she said this, so unlike the childish and playful voice she had heard earlier. For the first time that day, she sounded older than she was, and Luccia found that she was almost disappointed to hear the cheery girl like that. If Luccia had known that Riddel would become even sadder in the years that were to follow, Luccia would have chosen to say something different. _

_But then, at that moment, Luccia simply marvelled at how the younger girl had succeeded in dragging her out of her laboratory and into the sunlight. They were only four years apart, but Luccia felt that they were so completely different from each other that it might as well have been a hundred years instead. But even so, there was something about this strange girl beside her, she just didn't know what it was. _

"_You are not any more terrible dan any ot'er living being. Everyone longs for de t'ings he doesn't have, vhet'er dey are many or few." Luccia knew best how true this was. Her whole life was ruled by wishes and desires, but ultimately she had to recognize that she only had the time and energy to work towards one goal, and consequently had to give up on the others. This was the tragedy of life, but Luccia had long given up on mourning it. She was glad to be able to devote her life to science, to ultimately be able to accomplish something that might have an effect on all humanity. No one would look at her strangely, then. Nobody would whisper behind her back. But this goal was still so far away, and Luccia had merely begun. It would be a long road, with countless obstacles. But now that Lucca was dead, she knew one thing for sure. She had time. _

"_I guess you're right. We should all be happy with the things we have.", Riddel said, but the sad undertone hadn't completely vanished. She watched the last rays of the sun vanish behind the horizon, hoping to see it rise again soon. She hated the night, with its darkness and silence. She always felt so alone then, lying alone in her bed, unable to sleep. She hated the night, and longed for the day._

"_You should come play with Dario, Glenn and me tomorrow.", Riddel said, diverting her thoughts. "It's going to be fun." Luccia turned her eyes from the horizon to meet Riddel's, and was strangely alarmed to see the hopefulness within them. _

"_I have…vork to do.", she answered hesitantly, her voice wavering as she saw the glimmer in the other girl's eyes disappear. "Your fat'er vill be angry if I don't bring him results." It was a lie, but Riddel didn't seem to notice._

"_But tomorrow's Sunday! Why do you have to work on a day like this?", Riddel asked, and Luccia was surprised to see her quite angry. "It's not fair, nobody but the chef has to work on Sundays." Riddel was at a loss. Sunday was the only day of the week Riddel knew for sure that Glenn and Dario were free, they tended to be awfully busy during the week. So why did Luccia have to work? She wasn't dumb, she knew that everyone had some kind of work to do, it seemed to be normal. She could understand that, though why everyone seemed to be so eager to do it was beyond her. _

_She had never worked, only watched people work occasionally, and it had been nothing short of terribly boring. Of course she wasn't as ignorant as to not understand why work was important for people. 'Without people working you would have nothing on your table for breakfast and no dresses to wear', her father used to say. She understood this, everyone was fulfilling a task and expected others to do it as well. 'But don't concern yourself with this, you don't need to work. You will be a lady.', was the sentence that usually followed the first one, one Riddel didn't particularly like to hear, but also never found a way to counter. _

"_I vant to vork, it is of great importance to me.", Luccia said and shook Riddel out of her reverie. _

"_Why is that? Is it fun?", Riddel asked, suddenly interested in her new friend's profession. _

_Luccia looked at Riddel, amused at her absolute naiveté, but also slightly worried. Despite being sixteen, her knowledge seemed to lack important economical facts, but somehow, she found that she wasn't surprised at all. Viper seemed like the kind of man who would spoil his daughter and keep her from the harsh reality out of concern, without ever noticing the consequences. _

"_It is…aggravating. It never goes de way I vant it to, and I often have to start over again. It's not a very pleasant vork.", Luccia explained, and Riddel looked at her curiously._

"_Why are you doing it if it's so terrible? I bet there are many other things you can do well.", Riddel said as if giving advice despite knowing that she was the one who knew nothing._

"_Dere are.", Luccia answered, with a distant look at the rapidly darkening horizon. "Vhen I vas younger, I vanted to…become a writer." She added the last part in a hushed whisper, almost as if afraid of being laughed at. But instead, Riddel just nodded and looked at her expectantly. "Why didn't you become one, then? I would've liked to read your books." The question was innocent and should have been easy enough to answer, but to her, being asked why she had become a scientist was like asking why she still lived. It wasn't something that could be answered easily. Not without remembering just how she had become a scientist, when as a child, she had wanted nothing more than to write._

_It was because of her, that woman by the name of Lucca. They had been the worst of rivals, and the best of friends. Luccia knew that she would have never become a scientist if it hadn't been for Lucca to introduce her to this captivating art. _

"_I had a friend once, she vas a scientist just like myself. She vas a genius and invented many vonderful t'ings. She did it wit' such ease dat I was envious and became a scientist as well.", Luccia explained thoughtfully. She wasn't sure why she was telling something like this to someone she barely knew, but it felt strangely pleasant to have the other girl know._

"_So you became a scientist just to surpass her?", Riddel asked and frowned._

"_Yes, I suppose you could say dat. I alvays vanted to surpass her, even t'ough she was like a mentor to me, and knew so many t'ings I did not. If it had not been for her early death, I would have never been able to do it, but now dat she is, I t'ink I vill."_

"_I see…", Riddel said, feeling sorry for having brought about such a depressing topic. But as she started to speak to change the conversation's direction, Luccia continued and answered Riddel's unasked question._

"_It is de least I can do for her, to try to become a great scientist just like her. I owe her dis much.", Luccia explained, as if to remind herself of what she had to do. _

"_I guess this is really important for you, then?", Riddel asked quietly, having given up on persuading her to play. _

"_Yes. I vill do everyt'ing it takes to achieve dis goal.", Luccia answered determinedly. With this said, she suddenly felt bare and vulnerable, as if having exposed all her vulnerabilities and weaknesses to an enemy. She looked over to Riddel who sat silently beside her, unaware of Luccia's feelings. Luccia noticed her arms, which were draped around her small body. "It is getting cold, ve should go inside.", she said, shaking off the uncomfortable feeling. _

_Riddel nodded and took Luccia's helping hand as she stood up. They made their way to the entrance of the mansion side by side, neither of them speaking. Luccia glanced to her side several times, hoping to catch a glimpse of Riddel's features, but her eyes were directed at the ground and her lilac hair covered them. Luccia couldn't tell if Riddel was sad or angry, but she hoped it was none of either._

_They passed the entrance and shortly afterward Luccia came to a halt at the junction of corridors. "I vill have to go dis way.", she said almost indifferently as she pointed her hand meekly in the direction she was about to take. She knew that Riddel would probably continue on ahead, where Luccia assumed her rooms to be. _

"_Goodnight, Luccia. Thanks for viewing the sunset with me.", Riddel answered as she turned around, favouring Luccia with a gentle smile. However, before Luccia had the chance to respond, Riddel had turned her back to her and was heading for the stairs which lead upward. _

_An unconscious sigh escaped Luccia's lips as she turned to make her way back to her supposedly safe haven, her laboratory. She frowned at the corridors that greeted her after she had descended the stairs. After having been out in the light of day, they seemed so much darker than before, so much more unwelcoming. Luccia wondered why she hadn't noticed it before. For some reason, she could suddenly understand why many people considered this part of the mansion eerie. No wonder the soldiers made up stories of her being a witch. She wondered what they would come up next. Not that she cared. _

_However, the dimness of the corridors brought back her memories of a forgotten experiment she had once been working on, a research concerning the breeding of light-emanating domesticated animals. She hadn't been very successful back then, but she might pick it up again and drop her photosynthesis experiments instead, which were positively boring and altogether fruitless so far. The idea sounded good enough to her and she nodded to herself as she opened the door to her lab. _

_The laboratory was still dark, nothing had changed since she left. She doubted anything in this lab would miss her, or even acknowledge the lack of her being around. The thought of it was more depressing than she expected it to be._

_She walked over to one of her many cupboards, rummaging in the back of it for her old research papers, which she knew had to be somewhere in this lab. She never threw anything away, it was one of the first things Lucca had taught her. "You never know when you'll need some of the old stuff.", was what she had used to say. _

_Now that Luccia thought about it, she remembered that she had worked on light-emanating animals even when Lucca had still been alive. As always, Lucca had disapproved of the idea, saying that it was too impractical. Lucca was never truly fond of animals, she had always preferred machines. Machines were neutral and did everything one told them to do. They were reliable. _

_As long as they 'functioned', which had always been Luccia's strongest argument against machines. Animals where more reliable when it came to life-spans. They lived as long as the environmental requirements were met, unlike Lucca's 'creation', which always broke sooner or later due to some unforeseeable miscalculations. _

_Though this wasn't to say that Luccia hated machines, she had always been impressed by her inventions, especially when Lucca had come up with a device for artificial light, which had proven to be quite powerful. It had been much brighter than the common torches and candles, but also way too hard to operate for any normal being without the unattainable intellect of Lucca's. _

_Finally having found the papers she had been looking for, Luccia retreated from her cupboard and spread the papers on her table, taking a look at her former results as a whole. She still knew that she had made it quite far with this research and experimentation, especially after Lucca had completed her invention quite rapidly, which had just fuelled Luccia's envy. Envy was the feeling that had driven her onwards ever since she had met Lucca, though she still refused to think of envy as a despicable feeling, for it had unleashed her imagination more often than not in the past. Back then, she wouldn't have thought that she would ever come to miss this feeling of competition._

_She sifted through her papers aimlessly, trying to remember her old results and the problems that had occurred, which had ultimately driven her to give up on this project. She found and old and worn-out sheet which listed a few animals. There were quick annotations beside every one of them, but they were hardly readable anymore. She recalled this sheet to be the list of animals which had proved themselves usable for the experiments. Which meant those animals which she possessed records of ever having at least glowed. She had had actually succeeded in causing a few of them to glow for several minutes, so the light in itself hadn't been the problem. The problem had been the impracticalness of most of them due to their size or obstacles concerning their mobility or intellect. Most of them had been just too immobile, too large to have around casually or their intellect was too low for them to actually be domesticated. She had wanted animals like Alphabats or some other useful animals to glow, but somehow it hadn't worked. Luccia now remembered that ever since she had gotten the idea of using Alphabats, she had been possessed by the thought of having to use a flying animal, one that might even hang down from the ceiling, which would provide the best source of light._

_Luccia paced across the room, aggravated. She remembered why she had dropped this experiment, she remembered the dead-end she had reached with it. But this time, she would do it, somehow. Luccia heard faint noises from the corridor and for a moment, she thought that Riddel might have come to see her, but she quickly banished this ridiculous thought. It was late at night, there was no way Riddel would be anywhere else than in her comfortable bed. A huge one, most likely. She had no idea, really, for she had never seen Riddel's room, and she doubted that she ever would. A faint thought about going to sleep as well crossed her mind, but was effectively suppressed in the same manner as the one before. She had no time for sleeping, and she wouldn't allow herself to until she had found at least a possible way to solve the problem in front of her. It couldn't be impossible. Lucca had always found a way, even though she had relied on different means. It had to be possible. _

"_It vorked wit' a Bubba Dingo and a Bulb…why not wit' an Alphabat?", Luccia mumbled as she scribbled aimlessly onto the sheet in front of her. Maybe the cell structure of Alphabats had some major difference compared to the others. It didn't really matter what the cause was, the fact remained that with the methods she used, she couldn't bring Alphabats to glow. Which offered her the choice of two alternatives: She could try to develop a better and more refined technique on the Alphabats, or try to alter the other animals until they met her expectations. Which would include the raising of the intellectual level to a minimum to be domesticated, and an improvement of the mobility, mainly. In short: They needed to be smart…and they needed wings._

_Luccia was familiar enough with the theoretical concept of wings, but to artificially create them, without the aid of metal or the like, it seemed…crazy. Not too crazy for her though, and within minutes Luccia had collected everything she needed and put it onto her table. The only thing she lacked were actual animals, but she would deal with that later. She never liked to have too many of those around, they were distracting. She had to clear the theoretical obstacles first anyway._

_With this newfound enthusiasm, Luccia continued to work hour after hour, not once remembering the sleepiness she had felt before. It was already dawn when she heard the soldiers arrive for their shift out in the corridor, that she realized she was still awake and had not slept the entire night. She glanced at the table in front of her, surprised to see a rather high stack of sheets there, every one of them with countless formulas and sketches on them. She had achieved quite a bit, at least on a theoretical basis. If the assumptions she had based her formulas on were correct, she might just be able to do it. But it would still be a long way to go. _

_With a sigh she stood up and walked across the room slowly. After sitting on her rather uncomfortable wooden chair through the whole night, she was glad for the change, and took a few papers from the stack to read them once more. It was no use to start the actual experiments if her formulas were incorrect or even contained minor errors, it would just result in a waste of materials, which she tried to avoid, considering even Viper must have a limit to his generousness. She didn't want to find out, for if she did, the probability was high that Viper would just send her away, given the fact that she had yet to accomplish something of any use for him, which was the reason why she was here in the first place. If he were to send her away, she would have to go back to Zenan. She hated the thought. _

_It was the continent that had no options in store for her, no future. The only thing that rested there was her past, and though she didn't like to think of going back, she knew that she had to visit her grave sooner or later. Her grave, which didn't have a tombstone adorning it, no inscription with gentle and soothing words of comfort for those who came by and happened to stop at this grave. No memorial at all. It was a grave unseen by the eyes of those who hadn't known her. Even the ashes that had been all that had remained of her were now long blown away by the wind, which had probably taken them to the ocean below. She wondered if Lucca would have liked the thought of resting in the ocean. They had never talked about such things, even though, considering the letter Lucca had given her to keep, she must have thought about the possibility of dying early quite often. _

_Of course, the content of the letter was unknown to her and she could only guess that it must be some sort of last words to a girl she had cared for. She had no idea where this girl was right now, she could be dead for all Luccia knew. But she knew, that if she would ever see this unique girl again, she would definitely know it was her, and give her the letter. She secretly wished that this would happen soon, she couldn't bear carrying the letter around with her. It seemed like a heavy burden, tugging at her heart with every thought of it. Why was that? Was she envious of the girl who would eventually receive the letter, wishing that she had gotten a letter for herself? No, that wasn't it. But still, Luccia hadn't forgiven her for not saying anything when Lucca seemed to know quite clearly that she would die at one point or the other, way ahead of her time. _

_Luccia sighed, rubbing her temples. Her usually steel-like concentration was shattered beyond repair, and Luccia felt that the only way to mend it gradually would be fresh air…or even better, sleep. She didn't like sleeping, it always seemed like a terrible waste of time to her. A waste of precious time which she could put to a much better use. _

_She decided upon fresh air then, which was fairly uncommon for her. Usually, once she needed a break, she would sit down on her chair and do nothing for a few minutes, but her legs were still stiff and strangely ached to be moved. And also, the air outside had smelled nice the day before, she would allow herself to enjoy the pleasant scent once more. _

_However, just as she wanted to open her door that lead to the corridor, she heard voices not too far away, and stopped in her tracks. She had never fancied herself as an especially curious person, but just this once, curiosity got the better of her and she decided that she could as well listen for a while._

"_Lady Riddel! What are you doing down here, again?" It was the voice of a guard, deep but still gentle-sounding, if quite alarmed for some reason._

"_Isn't it obvious? I'm going to see Luccia.", the other voice, unmistakably belonging to Riddel, answered plainly. _

"_You…you really shouldn't go to her, everyone says she's mad.", the soldier said, his voice a little lower as if he was cautious of being overheard. "You are better off playing with the others." Luccia could hear the strain in the man's voice, indicating that he was trying hard to convince Riddel with gentle words rather than more gruesome tales about her. It was amusing._

"_No way, just let me through…please." Riddel added the last words audibly reluctantly. "You don't understand."_

_The soldier didn't say any more then, and Luccia heard Riddel's footsteps coming closer to her door. Luccia quickly retreated from the door and sat down at the table, trying to look busy. The mere thought of doing it made Luccia want to kick herself, but she didn't have much time to contemplate and had just reached the table when Riddel opened the door. Luccia had half expected her to open it as roughly as she had done the first time, but aside from a low creak it made no noise as the other girl opened it. _

"_Good morning, Luccia.", Riddel greeted her as she stepped into the room. "I had a feeling someone like you would be up already, and it seems like I was right." Riddel smiled warmly at the other woman who had just turned to look at her, and walked closer to her. _

_Riddel's hands were behind her back and she leaned slightly over the table to catch a glance at the sheets of paper lying there in complete disorder. Luccia looked up at her, an unconscious smile tugging at her lips as she saw the curiosity in the younger girl's eyes. _

"_It seems unlikely for someone like you, t'ough. Standing up so early.", Luccia finally said, forgoing any greeting that wasn't really necessary anyway._

"_I know.", Riddel said and giggled. "But Sunday is the best day of the week, I can't just waste my time sleeping, can I?" Luccia's eyebrows perked up as she heard this and her smile widened slightly. _

"_Dat vould be de best t'ing to do.", she answered, but her smile faded shortly afterward. "Still, why are you here den, and not playing wit' Glenn and Dario? You were looking forvard to spend your time wit' dem, were you not?"_

"_Oh, them.", Riddel chuckled and shrugged. "I guess they can do without me for a day." Luccia eyed the other girl strangely, surprised at what she had said. Still, she didn't fail to notice the faint blush on Riddel's cheeks at the mention of Dario._

"_So that's why…", Riddel started, looking at Luccia mysteriously. "I decided to spend the day with you." She revealed what she had been holding behind her back. It was a silver plate with two rolls on it, and judging from the faint steam around them, they were still quite warm. "And we'll start off with breakfast, because honestly, you don't look like you'd eat very much and the cook told me as much when I asked him. Though he did look quite shocked when he saw me making breakfast for you.", she explained and finished with a soft giggle._

"_D…danke…", Luccia stuttered, unable to think clearly. She took the plate from Riddel and put it onto the table beside her. She stared at the rolls in fascination, unable to tear her eyes from them. Never before had someone made her breakfast, except for her mother, who only did it until Luccia had turned six. It wasn't much, just two rolls on a plate that was normally used by Riddel and Viper only, but it meant surprisingly much to Luccia. She wondered what the cook must have thought, seeing the lady of the mansion rummaging around in his kitchen, making breakfast for someone who merely worked here. It would start weird rumours, most probably. Luccia could already hear the soldiers talking, saying how she put a spell onto Riddel to make her her servant. Luccia knew she would never hear the end of those ridiculous rumours, but somehow she even enjoyed them. It had certain advantages to be feared, after all._

"_You shouldn't have-", Luccia began but was immediately silenced as Riddel put her index finger onto her lips._

"_I know what you're about to say.", Riddel said and smiled triumphantly. "You were going to say that I shouldn't have done this, and that you have terribly much work to do today and can't spend any time with me." Luccia stared at her and simply managed to nod before she looked down. It wasn't a lie, but still, it sounded like a terrible excuse even to herself. She did want to spend time with Riddel, but at the same time, she was afraid. Afraid of what the others might say when they see her, afraid that they would drag Riddel into their scheme of hatred for her, afraid that she was just unable to be around people naturally. She had always been a person who was better off alone, who didn't need anyone and thought that nobody needed her either. Ever since Lucca, she hadn't spoken more than a few sentences to anyone, and she thought of herself as a terribly boring and strange person to be around. Especially if it was with Riddel, who was so pure and innocent that Luccia felt as if she was contaminating her by just being in the same room with her, speaking to her. _

"_But I've come up with an idea.", Riddel said and grinned at her friend who was still staring at her. "What about I help you with your work, and this afternoon we'll go to Termina together? I heard there's a concert there today. And what do you know, of course Dario and Glenn didn't want to go."_

_Luccia felt an unexpected pang of disappointment as she heard the last few words and for a moment, felt like a poor replacement for the knights in training. However, the warm laugh that accompanied Riddel's words and the sheer hopefulness in her eyes made Luccia's lips move on their own accord._

"_I t'ink dat's acceptable." A silly grin spread on Luccia's face and she quickly fought it off with a mask of indifference. She didn't know why she had agreed with Riddel's ideas, it was almost impossible for Riddel to help her with her formulas and experiments. But she wouldn't be able to see the disappointment in Riddel's eyes if she said no. This girl had the very qualities that Luccia had used to hate. Every wish or idea she uttered was like an order, because it was impossible to deny her any of them. Everything she wanted would be hers, without ever doing anything to gain it. However, now that Luccia was under this girl's spell, she was unable to think of such things, her only goal was to give her what she wanted, and gain her smiles in return._

"_So, where to start, then? I bet it's complicated, but you could explain to me what you're working on at the moment. And if I don't understand it, you could always give me tasks such as getting a cup of tea for you or something like that.", Riddel joked, scratching her head. _

_It was to become quite different however. Even though Luccia had disliked the thought at first, she had told Riddel of her current research, and to her surprise, Riddel seemed to catch on pretty quickly. She listened intently to Luccia's words, and while she could only do so much as frown and the lengthy formulas, she was a lot smarter than Luccia had anticipated. She had countless ideas on what to improve, and which ideas to give up altogether. For example, Riddel cautioned her to use narcotics when it finally came to make the animals glow, to diminish the pain for the animal, even though Luccia was certain that this would have an effect on the experiment, positive or negative._

_In detail, this effect of glowing was brought about by a certain fluid, which was, with the aid of a needle or syringe, injected into the cells of the second or third skin layer, much like a tattoo. The fluid was dark and almost syrupy, and during the process of its production, it had been profoundly exposed to artificial light and warmth. The difference of this fluid from ordinary ink used for tattoos was the reaction of the skin to this fluid. Tattoos were treated by the body as a mere wound, whereas the body reacted with a heavy defence mechanism to this fluid, trying to destroy it or get it out of the system. The substances the body sent to the places of the injection slowly dissolved the fluid under the release of energy, which expressed itself through light. Basically, it was an exothermal reaction with light instead of warmth. _

_Now, if the fluid was to be injected into several places of the body, it would create the illusion that the subject glowed. However, this method was a double edged sword. The bodily substances which dissolved the fluid too quickly were the first obstacle. Luccia couldn't possibly inject as much of the fluid as to make the subject glow for hours, it would cause more pain to the subject or be lethal even. Also, the use of narcotics, which Riddel insisted on being used, while applying the fluid could either hasten or retard this process, Luccia had yet to try it. So, in using more of the fluid, she would also have to use a larger dose of narcotics, which would also cause the subject to be asleep the whole time the glowing lasted, which was not the result she wished for. Of course, she had already thought about retarding the bodily functions to cause the glowing to last longer due to less resistance, but this would have an equally bad effect on the subject's condition. _

"_It seems quite hopeless.", Luccia sighed and sat down on her chair wearily, while Riddel still scribbled down onto the sheet before her._

"_Either that or we're just too stupid for this." Luccia frowned at this comment, but her features quickly relaxed as she heard the other girl laugh warmly. _

"_But to be honest, I'm sorry that I wasn't any help to you. I really tried my best.", Riddel apologized._

"_Quite de contrary.", Luccia contradicted with a smile. "Wit'out you, it would have taken me a veek to realize dat dis experiment is not wort' pursuing."_

"_You'll start something else, then? After so much work?", Riddel asked, surprised that Luccia was willing to give up on this so easily. _

"_I do not t'ink glowing animals are wort' my time anymore. I vill find somet'ing else to vork on. Somet'ing more useful." Luccia sighed. Maybe it was better this way. She had only started working at it again because of her memories of Luccia, but in reality, these experiments were useless. Ridiculous even, though Luccia wondered why she hadn't noticed this earlier. Maybe it needed a clear mind like Riddel's to see the obvious. She would concentrate on something different from now on again, and she already had something in mind. As for the artificial light project, she would just have to admit that Lucca had clearly won in that field. _

"_But promise me not to hurt any animals, I would feel so sorry for them. I bet there are experiments that can be done without causing animals to suffer.", Riddel pleaded and Luccia felt herself pale. _

_If Riddel only knew, she would not be here anymore. If she knew how many animals had already died at her hands, she would run away from her, hate her. But Luccia pressed her lips together and nodded. "I vill take good care of dem." She lied, for Riddel's sake. And her own. _

"_I know you will.", Riddel said and chuckled. "Now, shall we go to Termina? It's already afternoon, come on!", she exclaimed and danced through the room towards Luccia, taking both of her hands into hers. "Believe me, the concert will be great, but we'll have a lot of time before it starts, so we can go shopping as well."_

_Luccia merely nodded, not sure what to think of this prospect of the day. Both of them headed towards the door and had just passed it when Riddel stopped abruptly. "Do you really want to go to Termina in your lab coat?", she asked and caused Luccia to blush slightly. She hardly ever took her white lab coat off, it was like a second skin to her. She felt safe wearing it. It made her feel like she had a purpose. But now, that she took it off, she felt vulnerable and naked. She still wore dark cotton pants and a deep violet pullover, but she wasn't herself without the coat. But she wasn't herself around Riddel anyway, so it mattered little at the moment and she followed the other girl outside and along the corridor. As always, she received open stares of the soldiers standing watch near the stairs. They whispered to each other, probably speculating about what happened to her lab coat. Such simpletons._

"_You don't think she'll actually go out into the daylight?", one whispered._

"_Won't she crumble to dust?", asked the other, causing them both to chuckle._

_Luccia was still a few metres away from them, but she could hear every single word, which was probably intended by the soldiers. Normally, she would pass them without so much another glance at them, but now, with Riddel just a few steps behind her, she wouldn't have it, anymore. _

"_Just vot is it you vant to tell me!", she shouted as she approached them, but was surprised that they didn't shirk back like the other soldiers. Instead, they grinned right into her face. _

"_Vot is it…vell…could it be dat you can't talk properly?", one of them imitated Luccia and she heard the other's ringing laughter. _

"_Stop that right now you jerks!", Luccia heard someone shout, but had to turn around to actually realize that it had been Riddel's voice._

"_Who's that kid?", the soldier who had imitated Luccia asked but immediately received a firm shove from the other and was silenced. _

"_One more word to Luccia and you'll find yourself on the streets.", Riddel threatened, her voice deep and angry, completely unlike the gentle voice Luccia had all too quickly grown used to. She was just sixteen, and she had almost the same height as the soldiers, but stood before them as if she was five inches taller. _

"_Y..yes, lady Riddel!", the more sensible of the soldiers stuttered and bowed, shortly after tugging at the other's arm to have him bow as well. It seemed like they hadn't seen Riddel coming, which had been a fatal mistake in this case. The other one uttered no words of apology, but gasped at the mention of Riddel's name. _

_Luccia simply stood and stared at Riddel, not sure what she should think about the whole situation. However, before she had the chance to ponder too deeply on it, Riddel continued up the stairs and Luccia followed her silently. _

_As they reached the top of the stairs, Riddel exhaled deeply and unclenched her fists. "Do they…say those things often?", she asked in a low voice._

"_Dey always do, but it matters little to me.", Luccia answered calmly, trying to sound unaffected. _

"_But that's horrible! How dare they make fun of someone so much more intelligent, so much nicer than themselves? Why do they do…such things?" Riddel's voice wavered between angry and sad._

"_Humans need ot'ers to define demselves. De worse dey can make de ot'ers out to be, de better dey can t'ink of demselves.", Luccia explained. People were like that. It was the concept of jealousy and envy that dwelt within each and every human. It would never be extinct._

"_That's…terrible.", Riddel whispered, and just now did Luccia realize how little the other girl knew about the nature of humans. How little she knew about humanity's worst traits. But then, Luccia knew so few about their good sides, she had never indulged in many social activities and her social skills were less than admirable. Which made them quite complementary._

"_Do not worry about it.", Luccia said to calm Riddel, who still looked quite shocked. Luccia took the lead and walked towards the entrance door, quickly followed by Riddel. The soldiers at the gate merely looked at them, knowing them too well to say something, so they simply opened the gate and let them pass._

_The way to Termina wasn't exactly a short one, but Riddel didn't seem to mind as she talked on and on about the city and all the nice people there, and how she only rarely had the chance to go there, for her father forbade her to go by herself. Luccia was more comfortable keeping silent all this time, only occasionally mumbling an approval or nodding to let Riddel now she was still listening. _

_Because she really was listening. She enjoyed hearing Riddel's voice when it was calm and gentle, telling her everything she thought, about the city, her friends, her life, as if they had known each other for years. As if it was the most ordinary thing in the world to tell someone about your whole life after just two days of knowing her. Maybe it was, Luccia wouldn't now. _

"_We're almost there.", Riddel said and smiled, pointing on what seemed to be the harbour of Termina. Luccia nodded in affirmation, walking a bit faster than before. She hadn't been to Termina often, had never felt the necessity to go there except of the rare occasions on which she needed special items, though she usually ordered everything she needed, and had it delivered to the manor. There was no use wasting all that time to go to Termina herself when there were easier, more efficient ways. At least that was what she had used to think, but now her growing anticipation proved her otherwise. Maybe, sometimes, she should consider going there herself, especially if she had someone to go with. _

_But no, she didn't think she could ever ask Riddel to go with her to Termina, or anywhere. It was one thing being asked by someone who did those things naturally, but a whole other one when it was herself. Luccia didn't think she'd have the nerve. _

_Luccia sighed inwardly, pushing the unwelcome thought as far back in her mind as possible, trying to concentrate on what lay before her. It would be a nice time in Termina, surely. _

_And yet, she had come wholly unprepared for the depths and horrors that were shopping. She had come relaxed, thinking about simply choosing new trousers or a new pullover, like usual. She had never really put much thought into clothes, always choosing something that fit and had a remotely acceptable colour. Nothing more._

"_No! Definitely not that one.", Riddel said firmly, but burst into laughter despite her efforts. She sat on a chair across the changing room Luccia had just come out of. _

"_Vhy not? It is a nice fabric.", Luccia asked and rubbed her sleeve for emphasis, blushing at Riddel's remark._

"_Sorry. Let's just say that green and orange…aren't really your colours.", Riddel answered and chuckled at the image of Luccia actually wearing this horrible pullover in her lab. Though she should rather weep, if it weren't for the colours being too horrible to take seriously. She couldn't imagine anyone wearing this, and she definitely wouldn't have Luccia do it if she could help it. _

"_De ot'er one den…", Luccia mumbled, turning around to go into the changing room to try on her next favourite, although she was almost sure that this too was one Riddel wouldn't approve of. And her approval meant strangely much to her, even concerning such mundane, and to her, unimportant, things as clothes. _

_Riddel leaned back in her chair, giggling to herself. She hadn't expected shopping with Luccia would turn out to be so much fun. It was strange for her to suddenly be the one who knew everything, to be someone who could even teach someone as smart as Luccia something new. It made her feel important for a change. At least important person-wise. She knew that she had some level of importance at the manor, the soldiers and servants did what she wanted because she was Viper's daughter. She was important, regardless of what she did or did not. But now, seeing how clumsily Luccia chose her clothes and how important Riddel's opinion seemed to be to her, it made her feel special. _

_Of course, having a good sense for clothes wasn't anything special, much less a really useful skill in itself, but after all, something like this was only valuable to those who couldn't do the same. Which obviously included Luccia, who stepped out of her changing room wearing a grey-striped pullover._

"_You must be kidding, Luccia.", Riddel said with a mock frown, but the corners of her mouth twitched mercilessly and she didn't know just how much longer she could keep herself from laughing out loud. Luccia's helpless and lost look didn't help, either._

"_Vot is wrong vit' dis one?", Luccia said, slightly annoyed. It seemed as if nothing she chose could please Riddel's eye. Maybe she should just give it up, she didn't honestly believe that she would look any better or worse in different clothes. Fancy clothes were something for beautiful ladies like Riddel to wear._

"_It's…grey. You should wear happier colours. And besides, look outside, it's too hot to wear a thick pullover like that.", Riddel lectured. Luccia hung her head in defeat. Now she even came up with temperatures. Her lab had a fairly constant temperature that was a few degrees below the temperature outside, so she really didn't worry about feeling uncomfortable in a thick pullover._

"_You said colours don't suit me.", Luccia retorted. She felt childish for discussing her clothes with someone younger than her, though she had to admit that it was a unique change of her usually well-planned time._

"_I just said green and orange don't suit you.", Riddel said and went up to Luccia, turning her around so they both faced the mirror. Luccia frowned, she still didn't see what use this whole dressing-up game had. _

"_Well, let's make a compromise.", Riddel said softly as she laid her chin onto Luccia's shoulder, smiling at her in the mirror. Luccia shivered at the sudden contact and her blush intensified. She wasn't used to being touched, but she tried to remain calm._

"_A compromise?", she asked, thankful that at least she wasn't stuttering._

_Riddel simply smiled wider and turned away from Luccia, searching the shop for clothes to her liking. Luccia watched silently, trying to understand the other girl's criteria for choosing clothes. It wasn't easy though, because Riddel simply looked at them and put them away without having felt the fabric, looked at the price, or even tried it on. It was…weird. _

_Weird because Luccia couldn't believe that the colour could actually be the most important thing. It seemed terribly superficial to her._

"_I think I've found just the right thing for you!", Riddel exclaimed and beamed at Luccia, holding up a black and white jacket with a fitting skirt that Luccia guessed would reach down to her ankles. "So? What do you think?"_

"_It looks nice.", Luccia answered, if only not to shatter the other girl's smile. She couldn't say if she liked it or not unless she tried it on, and Riddel promptly made this decision for her._

"_Then try it on, I bet you'll look great wearing this." She gave the clothes to Luccia and watched her disappear in the changing room once again, smiling._

_In the changing room, Luccia took the grey pullover off and folded it into the shape it had before, then took the black and white jacket. As she ran her fingers along the sleeves, she noticed how sleek the fabric was, yet how soft. It was a little tight around the waist, unlike the clothes she used to wear, but she guessed that it had to be this way. The skirt was comfortable enough however, and as she glanced at the mirror, she had to admit that these clothes weren't all that bad. She could bear wearing it, if it made Riddel happy. _

_With a last tug at her jacket which she found to be rather short, she exited the changing room, only to come face to face with a mirror image of herself. Almost._

_It was Riddel, standing before her in the same clothes she wore, only that the colours were reversed. Where Luccia's jacked had black sleeves and a mostly black back, Riddel's jacket was of white fabric in those areas, but black where Luccia's was white. It suited her, much more than the darker version Luccia wore would. _

"_You look…beautiful.", Luccia whispered, still regarding the other girl's dress. It was a ridiculous statement, for Riddel would look beautiful in anything, or so Luccia thought, but somehow, this dress was truly fitting. Most of its parts were white, matching Riddel's endless innocence, with just a few black areas to underline this. _

"_So do you.", Riddel answered and smiled saucily as if knowing she was just reminding the other woman of wearing the same clothes. _

"_Ah…dat's not true, is it?", Luccia responded and smiled sheepishly to mask the frown that was threatening to cross her face. She turned to the mirror and looked at herself intently, her arms hanging limply to the sides. "Votever I vear…I look de same."_

"_Which just means that you're always beautiful, no matter the clothes." Riddel pointed out and giggled to see Luccia blush slightly. _

_Usually, Luccia would grimace or frown at such remark, or get angry even. But spoken by Riddel, with this voice full of honesty, Luccia wanted to believe it, even though she knew better. _

"_Shall we take them? I think they suit us perfectly, they'll be fitting for the concert later too.", Riddel said, not really waiting for a response for she already turned around to go and pay for their new clothes. Luccia wanted to argue, but by the time she did, Riddel had already paid for both their clothes._

"_I made you leave your work to go shopping with me, so that's the least I can do for you in return.", she said, leaving Luccia no points for further argumentation, other than a murmur of thanks. _

_Both of them left their new clothes on to go to the concert, Riddel felt they were more fitting than their old ones._

_The way to the harbour wasn't long, but at the time they reached it, the place was already littered with people, rendering it impossible to get close to the large wooden ship that lay at anchor before them. On this ship there was a large stage, and they could already see some people walking about, probably making some final adjustments. _

"_It seems we're too late for the front rows.", Riddel stated the obvious, frowning at the masses of people. _

_Luccia nodded gravely, looking around in search of a good spot to watch the concert from. Her eyes fell upon the harbour wall, which was fairly far away from the stage but should provide a good view nonetheless due to its height being on par with the stage's._

"_Let us go up dere.", Luccia spoke and pointed to the wall for Riddel to see what she meant. Riddel nodded eagerly in response, the frown from before completely replaced by a smile._

_They reached the top of wall just in time to watch the concert begin. With a smile, Luccia took note on how fidgety Riddel was. This concert had to be really important to her. _

_The evening was warm, and Riddel dangled her feet in contentment as she listened to the songs, occasionally humming along with the parts she knew the lyrics of._

_Luccia couldn't say that she liked the music, but she hadn't expected that to happen, so she still considered it to be remotely enjoyable. She rarely listened to music, and she didn't know nor had heard of the man with the guitar who was standing on stage, but judging from the applause of the people around her he had to be well-known, and well-liked as well, but for his looks or his music, Luccia couldn't say._

_The concert dragged on quite extensively and Luccia caught herself yawning every so often, unbeknownst to Riddel, whose eyes were all but glued onto the stage, careful not to miss a single second. But even despite the other girl's eager expression, she could see that she was tired as well. It had been a long day, and Luccia started to think that maybe, Riddel wasn't used to standing up this early after all. The thought made her smirk. _

"_The concert is fantastic, isn't it?", Riddel asked dreamily, laying her head onto Luccia's shoulder. Luccia gasped soundlessly at the sudden contact, looking at Riddel wide-eyed. However, the other girl didn't seem to notice._

"_Y…yes, it's nice.", Luccia answered softly, trying to tear her eyes away from Riddel's head on her shoulder, with little success so far. _

_It felt strange, yet not as strange as to call it uncomfortable. She just wasn't used to this much contact, it sent chills down her spine and made her heart beat so much faster. It was laughable. She was twenty, and a scientist no less. She knew all the laws of physics, biology and chemistry, yet she did not know why she felt like this, when there was just Riddel's head on her shoulder._

_A wave of applause shook Luccia out of her thoughts and as she looked towards the stage, she saw the singer wave goodbye to his fans who accompanied his departure with high-pitched shouts and cries. Luccia was glad they weren't as close to the stage as the others, she was sure her ears would have given out halfway through the concert, which was now over to her surprise. She couldn't help but feel slightly relieved at the prospect of returning to the manor. _

"_Riddel, de concert is over.", she whispered with her head slightly tilted to the side, but she got no response. "Riddel?", she asked again, but the only answer she got was Riddel's even breathing. She must have fallen asleep near the end. The exhaustion had been too much, after all. _

_Luccia turned her head to the side, contemplating about what to do. She didn't want to wake Riddel, only to have her walk all the way back to the manor in her condition, but they couldn't stay in Termina overnight either. She decided to let her sleep for just a little while, at least as long as it didn't get too chilly._

_Luccia watched the crowds of people leave, excitedly talking to each other about how great the concert was, laughing all the while. She didn't envy them one bit, and they didn't envy her either, not even looking at the pair of women sitting on top of the harbour wall. Everyone seemed perfectly content with the situation, and even though Luccia thought it strange to ponder on it, she had to admit that it had been a nice day, that she had been quite happy even. _

_It only took a few more minutes for the harbour to be completely devoid of people. The stage was gone, the people who had previously been dancing upon it probably on the deck below, maybe sleeping, maybe discussing how to improve their performance. Luccia turned her head slightly in order to see the other ships, but they all seemed empty. It was quiet, even though the place had been a riot mere moments before. It almost seemed eerie. Peaceful, but eerie._

_The minutes trickled by slowly, giving Luccia more time to think than she would have asked for under different circumstances. She had always liked to keep her mind busy, occupied with experiments, plans to change the world. But never with plans to change herself, with thoughts that maybe her life wasn't what she had always wanted. But what did she want, really? More free time to explore the cities, more time to spend outside? No, she could do that whenever she wanted to, her captivity in the lab was of her own will, Viper didn't expect her to work twenty hours a day. It was something she voluntarily burdened herself with. But why, she did not know._

_What would happen to her, were she to just go away, leaving her lab and all thoughts of experimentation behind? What would she become? A different person? Surely. But would she be a better person? She didn't want to know. _

_As the time passed, the clouds which had obscured her vision onto the moon before now vanished, giving way to the cold light of the full moon. For some reason, it reminded her of herself. _

_As bright as she could shine as a scientist, her light would never reach other people's hearts to warm them. Her light would always be appreciated by those who shared her coldness, but never by others. Ordinary people thought of experimentation as cruel and inhumane, but they never thought of the advantages it brought for them, of all the luxury they could indulge in because science existed. It was a cold light, but a light that not many people would like to miss, even though it could never come close to the light of the sun, being merely a poor reflection of its golden grandeur. _

_The sun. Luccia couldn't help but think of Riddel, someone who shone so brightly, so effortlessly, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. It was a bright and gentle light, shining upon everyone equally, leaving no corner unlit. It was a light that no one could survive without, just as no one could survive without the occasional aid of people dear to him. Unlike the light of the moon, the light of the sun was essential, and no one ever dared to question it. No one ever dared to tell stories of horrible creatures and connected them to the sun. This was a burden the moon had to bear alone. _

_Luccia sighed. She was thinking too much. She shook her head in frustration, racking her mind in search of happier thoughts. However, she stopped her efforts as she felt the head on her shoulder move. She turned her head to see Riddel's eyes open slowly._

"_Luccia? Where are we?", she asked drowsily as she rubbed her eyes, sitting up. She looked around, noticing the empty harbour and the darkness of the night. "Oh.", was all she managed to say._

"_I didn't vant to vake you.", Luccia responded and looked away as if embarrassed. _

"_How long was I asleep?", Riddel inquired, now fully awake._

"_An hour, maybe two.", Luccia guessed, there was no way to tell how long it had actually been._

"_And I was so looking forward to the concert. To just fall asleep before it was over…", Riddel wailed and hung her head._

"_Don't worry, you didn't miss much. De end vas not as good as de rest, anyvay.", Luccia said in an attempt to comfort the other woman. She had to admit that she hadn't been listening very closely near the end, but it didn't matter at any rate._

"_Huh…", Riddel sighed, moving to stand up. Luccia followed suit, and soon they were on their way home. _

"_I hope father won't get angry.", Riddel muttered on the way, a frown on her face._

"_I vill apologize to him.", Luccia said promptly. It was her fault after all, so naturally she would be the one to apologize to him in case he was angry about their late return. _

"_N-no it's okay, he's never angry with me for long.", Riddel said and chuckled lightly, but was unable to hide her surprise at what Luccia had said._

_Luccia nodded at that, just as content to not do anything. _

_The rest of the way was spent in silence, neither of them saying anything. Luccia guessed Riddel was still tired and wanted just to get home, while Luccia didn't have much to say, herself. As usual. It was somehow relieving to know that she hadn't changed just yet._

_Luccia guessed it was about midnight when they reached the manor and noticed the sceptical and disapproving stares of the guards they passed. They were let through without a word, but Luccia dreaded that this was solely because the guards already knew what awaited them. She pushed this thought to the farthest corner of her mind, not willing to worry over things that might not even happen._

_As expected, Riddel stopped in the hallway and turned to Luccia. "Goodnight, Luccia. I'll see you tomorrow."_

_Luccia smiled slightly, but her smile fell as she noticed the gloomy tone of Riddel's voice. "Goodnight, Riddel."_

_She turned and walked to face the dark and gloomy corridors that led to her room. She wouldn't go to the lab as she usually did, she was too tired and after two days without sleep, her bed was much more tempting than any possible breakthrough she could achieve in her lab that night._

_She lay down onto her bed, taking her boots off lazily. She didn't bother to get out of her clothes, and after mere moments, she was already asleep._

_She slept in late the next morning, something she rarely, if ever, did. Her clock read eleven when she finally managed to keep her eyes open long enough to look at it. She wasn't even surprised, simply standing up as she would usually do five hours earlier. Her clothes were rumpled, and as much as she would have liked to keep them on, she ultimately chose a simple pullover and plain trousers to wear underneath her lab coat. _

_Without bothering with breakfast, she directly went to her laboratory which was situated right beside her room. She would have to make up for the time she wasted sleeping. She went back to theoretical planning of wings, constructing formulas and erasing them later because they contained errors. Her work was hard as usual, and despite Luccia's secret hopes, Riddel didn't come to see her that day. Nor did she come the day and the whole week after. It almost seemed as if she had forgotten all about her, and even though Luccia grew worried, she couldn't bring herself to go and see her. She didn't dare to actually go to her room. She didn't belong there, she would only receive strange looks. It would make Riddel look bad if someone like her were to come to her room. _

_With every passing day, this spiral of self-doubt ate itself deeper and deeper into her mind, eventually completely breaking her resolve to see the other girl. After a few weeks, these two days merely seemed like a dream to her, something that had only happened in her mind. She never stopped thinking of it, however. She would keep these two days in her mind forever, even though the memories hurt a little more with each passing day, and made her life seem all the more miserable. _

_Luccia continued to lock herself up in her laboratory, only rarely leaving it to sleep or eat the most essential amount of food she needed in order not to get too dizzy and weak. _

_She had come out of her shell for two days, but now, she was deeper inside than ever before. She doubted she would ever get out of it again. Maybe she should have never let anyone get this close to her, coaxing her into foolish hopefulness. Maybe it would have been better if she had never met Riddel in the first place. She should have known that someone like Riddel would never be truly interested in a person like herself. A monster like herself._

_It wasn't until three more weeks had passed that she decided to leave her lab, and gather new ideas. In Zenan. Viper approved of her "vacation" but regarded her in a strange way that Luccia was unable to interpret. He almost looked as if he was happy to see her leave. She felt useless._

_She took the next ship to the Zenan Mainland without knowing when she would return. One week, maybe two or three. Maybe a month. She didn't know. She only knew where she had to go first. She would go and see her grave. _

_It took her three days to get to Zenan, longer than she had expected. Truce Village looked just the way she remembered, but then, she hadn't been away for long. She crossed the old bridge that led to the small island where Lucca's house had once stood. The island looked terrible now. Black pieces of wood were strewn everywhere, and the ground was dry and barren. No reminder of this once green and beautiful place remained, and if she didn't know how it had looked before, she would never think that this cold place had ever been beautiful. _

_Luccia came to a halt a mere meter from where she knew the entrance door had been, and knelt down. Even though she knew better, even though she knew there was no God to pray to, she clasped her hands and thought of Lucca. It wasn't fair. She shouldn't have died. Not her._

_Knowing she was dead while working in her laboratory each day was one thing, Luccia noticed as tears began to leak from her eyes. But kneeling before her grave, where all their memories lay, was another. Luccia's hands quivered and her eyes were shut tightly as well as her mouth. She felt guilty. Guilty of not having been there when it happened, of not having been able to save her. Guilty of not even knowing who it was that did this to her. _

_She opened her mouth to whisper to her resting friend, but out came only a few wrecked sobs until she managed to close her mouth again. _

_It wasn't long until she broke down completely. She couldn't bear being at her grave, it was too much for her. She ran away as fast as she could, and hid the next two days in a hotel room in Truce. Her window enabled her to look at the ruins in the distance, but she kept the curtains drawn. She didn't want to see it. _

_These days gave her a lot of time to think. About what needed to be done, about what she could do. What she had to do. And despite her sadness, she became angry. It was an anger she had never felt before, and knowing that the cause of this were Riddel and Lucca did nothing to keep her calm. Sane. It was a change she was well aware of, but nevertheless could do nothing to suppress or avoid. Because, in reality, she wanted to be angry, wanted to shed her calm skin in favour of showing what she really felt underneath. _

_Before leaving Truce, she visited the grave again, promising Lucca that she would find the one who did this to her, eventually. She would find Lucca's murderer and kill him. She would have her revenge. _

_When she returned to the manor two weeks later, she was a different person. Yet, no one noticed, which only fuelled her anger even more. Nobody ever cared about her, nobody would ever see her for what she was. _

_It was that day, that she met Riddel again. Riddel hadn't changed, still wearing this unbearably innocent smile as if nothing had happened. She too, didn't care._

_Despite the stab of pain in her chest, Luccia intended to walk past her, not granting her the joy of seeing her weak. However, this thought was banished as she heard her name called by this impossible voice. She wanted to loathe it. _

_Riddel seemed genuinely surprised to see her, and Luccia had to give her credit for her fantastic acting. For someone who had left her alone, she seemed quite concerned. _

_Luccia meant to hate her, and throw all her thoughts at the other girl, unleashing her anger. But Riddel just kept on talking, unaware of Luccia' feelings._

_She talked about how she had wanted to see her, but was forbidden to do so by her father, how she had hoped she would meet Luccia outside of the manor, without her father knowing. She said it had pained her not to be able to see her anymore._

_Luccia could hardly listen, her eyes involuntarily focusing on Riddel's hand. There was a ring she hadn't seen before. A beautiful one, made of silver with a gem in the middle. There was also an engraving that circled the gem, but Luccia was unable to make out the words from this distance. _

"_Oh, that?", Riddel asked and giggled. "You won't believe it, it's an engagement ring!"_

_Luccia's mouth opened, but like a fish underwater, no sound came out. Riddel didn't notice but babbled on. _

"_It's from Dario! I was so surprised, but he said he was serious, and wants to marry me once I turn eighteen. I'm so happy Luccia!"_

_Luccia didn't respond, she felt as if she was unconscious. Her mind refused to work the way she wanted it to, and her eyes weren't able to see anything except of the ring. The words 'I'm so happy' repeated themselves in her mind, over and over. _

_She turned away from Riddel then, walking away from her. She felt as if her name was being called, but her ears refused to hear Riddel's voice. _

_She passed soldiers on the way to her lab. She knew they were making fun of her, but she couldn't hear them, couldn't see their despising glares. She would get back at them, one day. She would get rid of her accent, and become a well-known and accepted scientist. They wouldn't laugh anymore, once that happened. But most of all, she would make Riddel look at her. She would make Riddel look at her in the way she wanted to. But for now, she had to work hard to be able to achieve this goal. _

_Her work proceeded more smoothly in the weeks that followed, maybe due to her unscrupulous methods and newfound determinedness. Soon, she was able to construct wings of flesh and blood, and succeeded in attaching them to several species. The only hindrance that remained was their weakness. They were wings, and yet, they were too weak to support the weight of the animal they were attached to. The cellular structure wasn't endurable and resilient enough. She saw many of her subjected animals lift off the ground, only to have their wings break seconds later, which usually resulted in the death of the animal soon afterward. She would have to sever the nerves that connected the wings to the animal, the pain was too much for them otherwise. But removing most of the neural connections also meant less ability concerning gross motor skills. _

_She continued to work on this for a long time afterward, but never came to a pleasing result and eventually dropped it in favour of another research. _

_One day, the news of Dario having died reached her ears. The whole manor was in despair. And despite her efforts, she couldn't bring herself to shed a tear for this loss. Somewhere in her heart, she felt sorry for Riddel, but at times, she was also glad. It was a sick and despicable feeling, but she did not even try to suppress it. She was glad that he died. She really was._

_In the time that followed, she merely heard stories of Riddel being depressed, never leaving her room, never wanting to see anyone. Luccia was glad that they were the same. She was glad they were the same, even though they were as different as black and white._

_Luccia never ceased to believe that someday, they would be together again. She would become the greatest scientist and Riddel would finally see her for what she was, regretting the days she had spent with Dario instead of her. She really believed this. The would be together again, despite of what Riddel's father might or might not have said._

_Back then, she had been in control, but even knowing that she lost this control didn't stop her from enjoying her new state. She enjoyed being like this. She enjoyed it still._

"Tell me this isn't true.", Riddel said, approaching Luccia with a desperate and weak smile on her lips. She couldn't believe this, it had to be some sort of misunderstanding. Luccia wouldn't do something like this, she wouldn't…

"You should not be here.", Luccia said after regaining her composure. She watched Riddel and her face was perfectly calm aside from the streams of tears running from her eyes.

"What…what are you all doing?", Riddel asked desperately, still unable to grasp the situation. "Why is Kidd injured, and what happened to Harle? And who is this man?" The questions came out in a torrent; Riddel was unable to contain them any longer. "Tell me, Luccia!"

"This is not for you to know.", Luccia said, not attempting to wipe away the tears. She turned to Kidd, looking down on her. "You are lucky she came to save you.", Luccia hissed, her eyes mere slits.

Kidd stared at her, her expression a mixture of relief and fear of what would happen to her. Before she could think about it however, Luccia had drawn a needle from one of her pockets and stung it into her neck. After only a couple of seconds, Kidd was unconscious.

"Luccia!", Riddel shouted again, frightened at what the other woman was doing. However, Luccia didn't listen to her and simply moved to Jack.

"Let her go.", she ordered and Jack immediately obeyed, laying Harle onto the floor before him. She hated to leave this girl here, hated to not be able to kill her after all she has been through to get her. But it wasn't over yet. She would get another chance, surely. She would destroy Harle.

At last, Luccia faced Riddel again and a wry smile crossed her face. Before her stood the woman she wanted to hate, wanted to despise to the point of wishing to kill her. And yet, she was too weak, and it almost made her laugh. To be so weak, in front of someone like Riddel. She had miserably failed to hate her, and now, she had also failed to show Riddel how great she was. Because what Riddel saw now was not the person Luccia wanted her to see. Luccia wanted her to see a person she could be proud of, envy even. A person she would do anything for. But now, she only saw a mad and broken woman. Someone she should fear.

Yet, Riddel didn't waver under Luccia's gaze, but simply stared at her. "What is the meaning of this?", she asked, even though she had almost given up on receiving an answer.

"You should know…that I am doing this for you.", Luccia said and her smile grew. "Only for you, Riddel." Luccia stepped closer to Riddel, until only a few centimetres prevented their bodies from touching.

"Wha…what are you talking about?", Riddel asked. At this point, she couldn't hide her fear anymore, but refused to step backwards.

"Riddel…", Luccia whispered almost affectionately as she stared into the depths of her eyes.

She was so brave, so resilient. She was so scared, and yet she didn't run. Her face was pale and her lips quivered, but she still stood here, before her.

Luccia had the sudden urge to touch Riddel's face, to stroke her cold cheeks and tuck the loose strands that hung in her face behind her ears. She did no such thing, but moved forward until their faces almost touched. "You are so beautiful, even when you are afraid.", she whispered and saw Riddel's eyes widen.

"Lu…ccia…", Riddel gasped and wanted to step backwards when she felt the sudden pressure of Luccia's lips on hers. They were cold and harsh, but Riddel felt herself unable to move away. She was too shocked by this sudden sensation to notice the needle in her neck and soon dropped into Luccia's arms unconsciously. Luccia caught her and laid her onto the floor.

"Come, Jack.", Luccia said after a few moments of watching Riddel, and walked through the entrance door of the mansion.

She had lost for now, but they would meet again.

A/N#2: NO FLAMES PLZ! lol. No seriously, I can understand if some people just find this chapter to be a little too weird, but I couldn't help it. I wanted Luccia to me more than just a simple one-dimensional villain, so I thought this backstory was a good idea, even though it turned out more depressing than I had wanted it to. But it's not too late yet! (Or i it?) However,I'm sorry that Kidd and Harle more or less don't appear in this chapter at all, I will make up for that in the next chapter, I promise.


	16. Why do I care?

Chapter 16 – Why do I care?

"Do you have any idea how embarrassing this is for me?" Clair complained meekly, struggling vigorously but to no avail. "Just let me go."

"You brought this upon yourself, you know.", Eve said with a victorious smile, tightening her grip.

"I certainly didn't!", Clair said determinedly, kicking her feet. "How would you feel in my place?", she asked softly and blushed. She hated being treated like this.

"I would enjoy it as long as I could, I guess.", Eve answered and grinned saucily, even though she was a little out of breath due to Clair's antics. "Now stop struggling, you're making this harder for both of us."

"I wouldn't if you would just let me go already.", Clair huffed, her blush not quite vanished yet. "Just…stop this."

"No.", Eve said sternly but ultimately couldn't help but laugh at her friend's behaviour. "If you had just let me help you back there, I wouldn't have to do this, so don't complain. Just…don't think about how stupid you look like this.", she added, bursting into laughter.

"That was the wrong joke my friend.", Clair said darkly, smacking Eve's head with her fist, causing Eve to finally let go of her. Clair reached the ground, walking in a circle before eyeing her friend.

"See? I told you I could walk by myself.", Clair said, obviously content to be on her feet again. She swirled around, walking towards Eve. "Honestly, a soldier being carried piggyback…" Her cheeks flushed again, despite her efforts for the contrary.

"Well, if you hadn't ordered me to use the Heal element on myself, you'd be in a better shape right know, and I wouldn't have to worry about you all the time.", Eve sighed, feigning annoyance.

"Yeah, and I'd be the one carrying you around right now.", Clair retorted. She walked past Eve but wavered, and Eve had to grab her arm to keep her from falling. Without another word, she laid Clair's arm around her neck, and supported her with her left arm around her waist. Clair didn't struggle, simply leaning against Eve. Her legs were too weak after all, and her stomach still hurt too much to walk upright.

"You should have at least left your rod behind, it's just too heavy to carry in your condition.", Eve mumbled, unable to hide her concern for her friend. She gazed at the long path in front of them. It would take them a while to get to the ship, and the path was bathed in twilight already. They wouldn't reach it before it grew dark, Eve didn't exactly like the idea of walking through the darkness in their poor constitution.

"I'm…nothing without my rod, you know that. I already lost my sword.", Clair replied thoughtfully, remembering how she had simply lost the sword out of her grasp at one time, without even noticing. She hadn't felt its loss, it had been, and still was, nothing to her. Clair looked at the large rod in her left hand that made her arm grow weary just by dragging it behind her.

"But maybe you're right. I don't want to fight anymore, so I don't need my rod anymore, either." With that, she loosened her weak grip on her rod and let it fall into the dirt beside her feet. She didn't look at it and simply moved to continue walking, but Eve beside her had stopped, forcing her to do so as well.

Eve couldn't think of anything to say, so she simply nodded in understanding. She could comprehend how Clair was feeling. Their whole life had been turned upside down recently, and all this fighting had caused so many losses as well. So much hatred. She could understand someone as gentle and sensitive as Clair could not bear it anymore, even though she hid her vulnerabilities under a mask of indifference and coldness most of the time. It had to be hard for her to not be able to be who she was, to hide all the time, and pretend that she was cold and brave. The incident on the Longinus One probably still lingered on her mind, she probably still blamed herself for what had happened. And all Eve could do was watch her suffer and crumble, because she didn't know what to do to help her, when actually she was the one who was weak and helpless. But she tried to be strong, she really did.

But to leave her rod in the dirt, Eve could hardly bear to see it go to waste like this. She could understand Clair, but to drop the rod was too clear a sign of surrender, one Eve hadn't expected to see so suddenly. She had the urge to pick it up again, and after a few moments of contemplation, she did. Even if Clair didn't want it, she felt the necessity to keep it, if just as a reminder of their old days as proud soldiers. She let go of Clair for a few moments to loosen her belt slightly so she could bind the rod to her back with it. It pressed a little uncomfortably against her shoulder blades, but she didn't care, instead draping Clair's arm around her neck again to continue walking. To her slight surprise, Clair didn't say anything, simply watching her with a blank expression.

"I'll stop him, for sure. I won't let him do as he pleases anymore.", Eve muttered, but it sounded more like a hiss. If Clair wouldn't be fighting anymore, then she would just have to double her efforts. She tried to pretend she didn't mind this fact that weighed down on her more than she liked to admit.

Clair, who had previously been occupied with staring at her feet to see them proceed painfully slowly along the muddy path, now looked at Eve beside her. Her face was one of determinedness, and Clair marvelled at the strong resolve of her friend. Clair knew that Eve didn't do this for herself, but for others. Eve was the kind of person who always cared about others and couldn't bear to see them being treated badly or suffer. She did all this for Kidd and Harle, but also for her fellow comrades who died on the Longinus One, because they hadn't been the ones to blame.

She never thought about herself, which was why for as long as Clair had known Eve, which wasn't much more than a year, she had always gotten herself into all kinds of trouble. Clair still remembered this one day when they had been newcomers, and some older soldier had taken to bully her because she had been the worst when it came to sword practice. She remembered how Eve had stood before her, defending her from the other soldier. Shortly after she had beaten him in a duel, and the soldier had resigned his position as a soldier, having been too embarrassed of losing to a newcomer. It was one of the few fond memories Clair never wanted to forget, even if it reminded her of how weak she had been. How weak she still was.

"You'll beat him up good, I hope.", Clair said and forced herself to laugh.

"Of course.", Eve responded, unaware of Clair's fake laughter. "I didn't get him back then, but next time I won't hold back." She clenched her left fist as she said this, as if to prove to herself that she really meant it. No matter how much she loathed the thought, she would have to do it. For Clair's sake. She would kill him, so that Clair wouldn't have to worry anymore, so that she could forget about all this. So that they could return to the ordinary life they had before. The ordinary life they had shared…together. She liked to believe that with Viper's death, all of their problems would be solved. This thought was everything that still kept her going.

"I guess…I'll be staying here in Porre, then. It's nice enough here.", Clair spoke and smiled weakly.

"That's a good idea. Now that Viper's escaped, it should be safe here.", Eve said and tried to sound encouraging, even though she had the feeling she wanted to say something entirely different. She felt as if she was making a mistake. "It won't take long. You…you won't even notice that I'm gone.", Eve said, but felt as if her lips moved of their own accord. She didn't like how their sudden talk of separation was treated like nothing, but she couldn't help it.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that.", Clair responded and her laugh was high-pitched and as fake as the one before. She didn't care, she didn't want to care, it wasn't like she couldn't survive a few days without Eve. It wasn't like she couldn't survive a few days wondering if Eve was still alive. She could do so well on her own.

"If I get bored, I'll just go to this strange building in the city…"

'_Alone.'_

"And pay this ridiculous amount of money…"

'_Alone.'_

"To watch this... 'play' this woman was talking about…"

'_Alone.'_

"So I can…tell you…what it is..."

Clair's voice wavered at the end, and as she turned to look at Eve and saw her eyes wide and incredulous, she knew that, despite her forced smile, she was crying.

"Clair…", Eve whispered, staring at her friend whose cheeks were streaked by rivers of tears.

"You wanted to know, didn't you?" Clair's was almost shrieking as she clutched desperately onto Eve's collar, burying her head in her shirt which was quickly growing wet. She still forced herself to laugh.

"You wanted to go there too, didn't you? But it's okay I'll just go there alone and tell you everything about it when you're back, it's really no problem, I…" Clair talked on and on until her voice eventually failed her and all she managed to utter were desperate sobs. Still clutching Eve's shirt, she slowly sank to her knees, her face covered by dark and wet strands of hair, soaked with tears.

"Don't…leave me alone.", Clair whimpered almost too softly for Eve to hear.

She hated it. She hated her life for having turned out the way it did, and she hated everyone who was responsible for this. Herself. She hated herself for being so selfish, asking impossible things of Eve. She hated herself for being so weak, breaking down like this when everyone had supported her. The captain of the Radical Dreamers, Harle, and most of all, Eve. She was the worst. She loathed her cowardice, her indifference of other people's matters, when all she could think of was herself. She was a monster.

"Clair, I-", Eve said but stopped abruptly when she noticed that she was crying as well, her tears falling right onto the top of Clair's head without her noticing. She wiped them away hastily, but they only came forward again with even more force and she soon gave it up.

"Why…why didn't you say anything earlier!" Her voice sounded angry despite her quivering voice. She stared down at Clair, she didn't know what to feel. She was angry at Clair for keeping to herself so much. If she didn't want her to go, she should have said so right away. She should have just let her know. But she was also glad…that Clair had said what she did.

"Don't look at me like that.", Clair sobbed. She couldn't bear the look on Eve's face. If she had just kept her mouth shut and her face straight, a practice she had come to perfect over the last two days, everything would still be all right. But now…she was sure Eve hated her. "I'm selfish, terrible…mad…"

"You're none of these.", Eve cut her off sharply. She wouldn't have her friend saying such things about herself.

"I am!", Clair cried, aggravated. "I...I don't care about the others, I don't give a damn about Viper or anyone!" She looked up to Eve, and met the shocked gaze she had expected to see. It was alright, she wanted Eve to know. If she were to hide her ugly self any longer she was sure it would suffocate her, choke her with its ugly claws. "I was never interested in any of this, I don't care about what Viper or anyone else does. It doesn't have anything to do with me…" Clair looked to the ground, regarding the dark spot where her tears had seeped into the ground. Where her tears had escaped into the ground, away from her.

"Why, then? Why did you fight with me if you didn't want to do it?", Eve asked, her voice louder than she wanted it to be. She didn't know which she should be more shocked at, the fact that Clair didn't care about anyone or the fact that Eve had never noticed that her friend, whom she had asked to help her with all this, felt this way. That she had never noticed how unhappy she was about it. Eve looked up to the sky, ignoring the tugging at her collar for a moment as she felt a few wet drops on her head. It had started to rain, and Clair didn't notice at all.

"You still don't understand, do you?", Clair asked and laughed, more at herself than Eve. "Of course you wouldn't, someone as innocent as you couldn't possible understand something like this." Clair wore a frightening expression Eve had never seen before.

"Wha…what are you saying? Why did you fight if you didn't want to?", Eve stuttered, petrified at the sight of this person in front of her. This person she didn't know. Just the evening before, she had thought that she had finally understood Clair, that everything was all right again. She had been wrong, so wrong. She knew nothing, and yet, she called herself her friend. What kind of friend was she, who didn't know anything?

"Because of you!", Clair cried, unable to contain herself. It was for the better if Eve knew, she deserved to know everything. "It's always because of you…I just…I just pretended to help you because I couldn't bear being alone." How had this happened? Just a few minutes earlier she had been smiling, involuntarily playing along with being carried piggyback, she had almost been happy even. She had thought she could ignore the thoughts that gnawed at her mind and heart every day, and just forget them after a while. Time could heal such things, couldn't it? But now her feelings came rushing out, and she wasn't able to stop them. It felt like her body wasn't her own anymore…and this happy time was irrevocably lost to her now. She hadn't nearly finished yet, and she doubted that once she had, Eve would ever even think of carrying her piggyback, or even touching her, again.

"Pretended to…help me?", Eve gasped. She suddenly couldn't withstand the tug at the collar anymore and dropped to her knees also. Thoughts of having been tricked crossed her mind, thoughts of being manipulated. She hated herself for expecting such things of her friend, but at the moment, she didn't know what she was supposed to think at all. How had this happened? As she saw Clair's mouth open to talk, she prepared for the worst.

"I never did anything to help you.", Clair said sadly, gathering up the courage to look into Eve's eyes. "All I could do was to kill. I killed so many people, Eve.", Clair whispered and regarded her hands, which she had withdrawn from Eve's collar, with a mixture of disgust and amazement. They looked perfectly normal on the outside, but Clair knew they were stained with red. She had no idea just how many people had died because of her. Most of them had probably drowned because they hadn't awakened out of their unconsciousness in time to escape. Or their wounds had been too severe to be able to move. She hadn't even got the mercy to kill them right away, instead letting them die a slow and painful death. Clair knew how it felt to drown.

Eve regarded Clair in shock. She was talking about the battle on the Longinus One. She was aware that many people must have died, the lifeboats hadn't been nearly enough to save all of the people on board. They hadn't been much more than mere decoration in the first place, and Eve wouldn't have been surprised to hear that most of them leaked. It was a grim thought. Yet, it was Viper's fault. It always was. So why did Clair blame herself so much? She hadn't even been the one to shoot the cannon, which had eventually caused the Longinus One to sink in the first place.

"It's not…your fault this happened.", Eve said hesitantly, afraid of the image of her broken friend before her. She circled her arms around her tentatively, pressing her close to herself. "It's not your fault.", she repeated, more to herself than to Clair. She had never known, never guessed that her friend had suffered so much, had gone to such extends for her, while she didn't notice anything. It made her feel guilty beyond words.

"I struck them down, one after another…", Clair sobbed, trying to get the images of a defeated Randal out of her head. "I should have talked to them, done anything to prevent this. But I was fighting them, blindly, never thinking of anything. I can't go on like this." She clutched Eve tightly, even though she expected to be pushed away at any moment.

"They would have done the same to you.", Eve said sternly. "If you had let them, they would have killed you just as mercilessly. And also…you were doing it for me, weren't you?" Her voice was quiet by now, but also contained a hint of hopefulness.

"…yes, I-", Clair began, but was silenced by Eve's index finger on her lips.

"Thank you.", she said and smiled. Eve's tears had dried by now and all that reminded Clair of them were two clean paths across her otherwise muddy face, which the rain was trying hard to clean, unsuccessfully so far. "Who knows what would have happened to me if you hadn't been there."

"Don't say such things. I wasn't helping at all...", Clair whispered weakly.

"That's not true.", Eve disagreed, lifting Clair's head with her right hand. With her other hand, she began wiping away Clair's tears and the streaks of mud along with them. "You're gentle, kind, smart, and a thousand things more I can't express through words." She smiled sweetly as she said this. "You're the one who always reaches out to me, to help me, to support me."

Clair smiled weakly at that, tightening her embrace. "You don't hate me, then?"

"Of course I don't.", Eve answered and chuckled lightly. "Even though you're also impossibly moody, reckless and indifferent at times. But all in all, I like you better the way you are now."

"Do you…really mean that?", Clair asked tentatively, still too unsure to be hopeful.

"Yes. Actually, I was almost scared of you yesterday, being so harsh to Riddel and so cold in front of Viper.", Eve said and smiled, but her smile quickly turned into a frown as she saw Clair's features sadden.

"I'm sorry, I…hadn't been fair to you yesterday. But I had to hide my feelings in order to be able to go through with all this.", Clair apologized, slowly releasing Eve from her embrace.

"No, I guess it was my fault. You had gotten angry after I had told you these stupid things about our future. I shouldn't have done that.", Eve said and scratched the back of her head, "Talking about a husband, kids and a house at the beach when actually I had wanted to say that it would be nice if…we…had a house close to beach, someday." She added the last words in a hushed whisper, but Clair didn't fail to hear them.

"Wait, that sounds even more stupid…", Eve said but was interrupted by Clair who flung her arms around her neck, causing them both to fall into the mud, the rod Eve had strapped to her back disengaging itself in the process. The mud didn't feel any colder that the rain that had already soaked them both.

"Not at all.", Clair said smilingly and scrambled to sit up, effectively pinning Eve to the ground in the process. "It sounds…perfect.", she added in a whisper, trying to keep herself from bursting into tears again. Though this time, her tears would be those of happiness.

"Well, that's good then, I guess.", Eve said and smiled contently. "But there's one thing you have to promise me. I only want you to smile when you're really happy, not just to please others and make them believe that you're alright. And also, I want you to come to me and cry when you need to, and tell me about everything that worries you. In return, I promise that I will never leave you alone, no matter what happens." Eve blushed at the last part, but she was too happy to bother about such things. She looked up to Clair expectantly, waiting for her answer.

Clair leaned down until her head was beside Eve's, to whisper into her ear. "Promise." The answer was plain, but it meant a lot to Eve. She had never realized how important they were to each other, how much they needed the other to be complete. But now that she did, she felt like they could face anything, together. She still wasn't sure what it was that Clair saw in her, or what she expected of her, but this was something she would worry about later. For now, she was just glad beyond words to have Clair, _her_ _Clair_, back, instead of this sad and depressed shadow she had seen these last days. It gave her the strength she had always used to draw from her friend's presence.

They simply remained motionless and regarded each other in a silence undisturbed by words or sounds other than the rain drumming onto their skin and clothes. They were wet to the skin, but neither of them seemed to mind. Clair's brown strands hung down heavily, the rain that was running along them dropping onto Eve's already wet face. Eve was tempted to reach upwards to tuck them in place but refrained from doing so, simply content to watch Clair's face beneath the strands. She hoped Clair felt like these raindrops now, falling down but at the same time knowing that Eve would catch her. The thought of it made her smile even more.

"It's still raining. We'll probably get a cold like this.", Clair remarked, making no attempt to get off Eve.

"Probably. Did you think the rain would stop just for us?", Eve asked and grinned.

"Maybe. I would have liked to see a rainbow right now.", Clair said, looking up to the dark clouds above them.

"Me too.", Eve agreed. 'A rainbow would be nice, but I doubt I would have much time to look at it.' The thought made her smile again.

"You look terribly happy.", Clair noted.

"I must be your mirror image, then.", Eve answered and smirked. Clair did the same.

"But you know…", Eve started, causing Clair's eyes to focus on her. "I remember you saying how stupid you looked while I was carrying you piggyback. How strange do you think we look now, like this?", she asked and couldn't help but blush slightly, which Clair instantly imitated unwillingly. Clair looked down at herself, noticing how she was practically pinning Eve to the ground, holding her in place between her legs, with her hands on either side of Eve's head. She had to admit, it wasn't the most subtle position to be in.

"You know…", Clair said and smiled, wiping a small tear from her eye, "I don't give a damn."

* * *

She didn't want to wake up. But as her dream faded further and further into nothingness, she gave in. She opened her eyes reluctantly as she slowly ascended out of her sleep, only to be greeted by a burning light which seemed to pierce through her wide and unadjusted pupils. She groaned and turned her head to the side, coming face to face with a pair of familiar crimson eyes only a few inches in front of her. 

"Bonjour." Her voice was soft, almost too faint to hear even from such a close distance.

"Hey, girl.", Kidd said and smiled weakly. She turned her head slightly downward and noticed Harle's arms around her waist. She tried to turn her body to the side but quickly came to a halt as she felt a sharp pain in her thigh, which she didn't even have to think about to know what it was. Her memories of what had happened to her instantly returned as an image of her lying on the floor of Viper Manor appeared before her eyes. She had been defeated, and yet, she wasn't dead.

"Where…are we?", Kidd asked and looked around worriedly, careful not to move her body too much in the process. To her surprise, her eyes met a familiar ceiling which she could see clearly now that her eyes had gotten accustomed to the light. She had voiced the question expecting to find herself in a cold and creepy lab with whitewashed walls and a table with clean steel instruments, but instead, she realized that she was in her cabin she shared with Harle, and immediately felt silly for not having noticed this earlier.

"Don't worry, mon amour.", Harle whispered soothingly, her voice like balm to Kidd's bruised and battered soul. "You're safe here."

Kidd sighed in relief and moved her head forward until their noses met. She smiled at the sensation, closing her eyes to relish this moment just a few seconds more. She wished she could stay like this, but knew she couldn't. There were too many questions left to be answered.

"What…happened?", she asked, her voice reduced to a mere whimper as she recalled the image of Harle lying unconsciously in Jack's arms. "Harle, just what did he do?" Her eyes grew damp as she saw Harle's silent answer in her eyes.

Without another word, she reached out and tucked Harle's head under her chin, holding her as close as she could.

"Jack…surprised moi. He waz trés strong…moi couldn't escape." It was the simplest of explanations, but Harle found it hard to voice. She didn't want to remember it, even though she knew she was safe now.

"Everythin's gone ta hell, huh?", Kidd said softly, stroking Harle's hair. "First the dragon and Viper, and now Jack and Luccia…they seem bloody eager ta get rid of us. Ya know, I wonder if it would've been better had we just given Viper his stupid maps back. All this fightin', for maps we have no use of…this has gotten outta control too long ago. I don't think it's worth it." Her voice was calm and thoughtful, a contrast to her usual tone. She rarely pondered too deeply on what to do, always being one to follow her feelings rather than rational thought. But now that she did, the thought of simply ending this seemed so close. Peace would have been so easily attainable had they not taken those maps, and she had to admit that she was feeling guilty. It hadn't been their mission to steal them, they had simply taken them without giving it much thought. She would have never imagined getting into this much trouble because of such a small thing. Getting others into trouble because of it, as well.

Kidd frowned at her own thoughts. This was wrong. It was Viper's fault, not hers. His fault, definitely. And yet, in spite of loathing and despising him, she couldn't help but want to give up. They had no idea how many other people there were to back him up. They couldn't possibly know what Viper was capable of. She had seen what they had done to Jack. If he really was capable of manipulating people, boosting their skills and strength beyond imagination…they was no way of winning.

"Non, we have to stop him. Viper iz dangerous, we can't let him do az he pleazes. Especially not after zis." Kidd couldn't see her face, but was still surprised at the determinedness of Harle's voice. She must have gone through so much at the manor. Having to fight someone she considered to be a friend, and to be ultimately helpless in her struggle against him, it must have been a nightmare. And yet, she talked about it so rationally, as if her fears meant nothing to her.

As if sensing Kidd's thoughts, she looked up and met Kidd's eyes, her face completely neutral. She slowly climbed on top of Kidd, careful not to brush against her left thigh, where a thick white bandage was wrapped around her bare flesh. A small spot of crimson was slowly seeping through, the wound hadn't completely healed yet.

"And also…we have friendz. We are not seule eidder. We have to do zis, to take revenge for everyt'ing zat was lost.", she explained seriously, leaning down to plant a light kiss onto Kidd's lips. It was short, not more than a breeze, and Kidd regarded her questioningly. When she got up again, her lips trembled slightly, and her expression was one of dismay. "We…have to do zis, non?"

"…yes.", Kidd said and reached out her hands, cupping Harle's cheeks. They were slightly wet, and both of them looked at each other in silent understanding. In order to defend themselves, to get their revenge, and to save Jack, they had to do this. Because they had lost so much already, they couldn't afford to give up now. It was much too late for that.

Kidd trailed her fingers along Harle's face, frowning as they met a streak of raw and hot skin. Her face darkened as she looked at it. The wound was thin, starting less than an inch beside her left eye and running almost down to her ear. From the way it looked it had been bleeding only a short while before, and judging from the depth of it, Kidd knew it would leave a scar, healing elements or not.

The thought of someone being able to mar her lover's face like that made her feel helpless and angry. Harle wasn't one to mess with, and anyone that ever got a lucky hit at her had paid dearly for it. But for someone to hit her like that, so close to taking her sight, was frightening. Kidd didn't think she could ever bear looking into those ruby eyes, knowing that Harle couldn't see her the same way.

She gently locked her hands behind Harle's neck, drawing her closer to plant light kisses on the wound. Her lips touched the surface gingerly, careful not to apply any pressure on the already hurting wound. A small sigh escaped Harle's lips at the contact, and Kidd continued her trail of kisses until she had reached her ear.

"I will never let anyone hurt you, like this, again.", she breathed.

She meant what she said. If she hadn't been so careless as to think that each of them would be able to deal with possible obstacles alone, this wouldn't have happened. As always, it had been her idea to split up, with the simple goal of achieving their mission of finding information sooner. She couldn't have known that someone like Jack, whom they had almost thought drowned, would appear, but she should have expected it at least. She should have expected any dangerous resistance at all.

Harle simply looked down at her, a weak smile crossing her lips. She couldn't change what had happened, she couldn't go back, nor did she want to. Her only hope was to be stronger the next time she met him. She didn't want to fight him, but if she faced him again, she would do it, without holding back. She couldn't afford holding back anymore, and neither could the others. They were few, and because of that, they would have to seal their emotions away when fighting. They were through with talking and questioning. It was all coming down to kill or be killed, and Harle was sure she wouldn't let herself end up being the latter. If it came down to it, she would kill those who stood in her way, if she liked it or not.

Harle exhaled deeply and lay down on Kidd, positioning her left ear right above Kidd's heart. It beat slowly and steadily, without the faintest hint of dread or nervousness. Harle envied her.

"Do ya…regret bein' a pirate?", Kidd asked idly, twirling Harle's locks around her fingers. It was a simple question, without a particularly sad or grim undertone.

"Non…mais moi won't be sad once zis iz over.", Harle mumbled, her voice slightly muffled by Kidd's shirt in front of her mouth. She was aware that she had been the one proposing to become pirates, mainly because she had thought that Kidd was missing her old life, and also because she hadn't had satiated her hunger for adventure. She had been under the Dragon Gods' thumb for too long. But now, she would gladly change her life as a pirate for something much quieter and less dangerous. She felt she could have done without choosing this path for herself, even though she had made some good memories as well.

"Yeah, we should do somethin' else after this is over, I think I'm getting ta old for this stuff.", Kidd said and chuckled lightly, which caused Harle to look at her with a frown.

"You are juzt eighteen.", she said, a curious glint in her eyes.

"Way ta old for this kinda thing.", Kidd said and waved her hand as if dismissing the very thought of it.

"What about moi, zen? Are you saying moi iz old, mon amour?", Harle asked and looked at Kidd dangerously.

"What? No!", Kidd answered quickly, laughing as Harle crawled further upwards, threateningly sitting up and putting her hands around Kidd's neck as if to choke her.

"Do you have anyt'ing to say to defend yourself?", Harle asked with a superior voice and a wicked smile.

The instant these words left Harle's mouth, Kidd put on a saucy grin. "What if I tell ya you're still as beautiful as ever?"

"Well, zat would certainly change t'ings…", Harle whispered, releasing her hold of Kidd's neck, instead stroking her lover's face. "Merci beaucoup.", she whispered, meeting Kidd's lips in a passionate kiss. Her lips were a little rough and dry, but still tasted like they always did, a taste Harle was sure she would never tire of. She felt Kidd's lips move against her own, responding to her kiss that was so much like all the ones before, yet so unique to her, who had thought she wouldn't live to feel this sensation and the tingle it caused ever again. She wondered, were she ever to give her last kiss to Kidd, would she know it was the last? She hoped she would, even though the thought brought back a familiar uneasiness which shifted her focus to the theme that had been so predominant as of late. Death. However, she had also learned that the more she thought of it, the less scared she became. She had almost grown used to the thought that her life was a dangerous one that could reach an end around every corner. It had been her choice, and she had accepted it, but it still hurt. Her current life was a chronic illness. She got accustomed to it but the pain would not vanish just because of her acceptance. Nothing but running away could make the pain go away, but as long as she had someone by her side who could diminish her pain even by just a bit, she felt she could put up with it for a little while longer.

Kidd chuckled and used the short break between their kisses to grin at Harle. "You're bloody easy ta please.", she said in her usual cocky voice, unaware of Harle's thoughts. Harle blinked several times before she smiled knowingly.

"Not az facile az you t'ink…", she growled playfully, leaning down to kiss the other woman with even more fervour than before, while sliding her right hand under Kidd's shirt, slowly moving it upwards as if to count every row of ribs. Why should she care, about anything outside of this room, right now? Everything she needed was right in front of her, her lover's eyes daring her to go further.

She felt Kidd shiver under the contact, uttering unintelligible sounds, muffled by their feverish kisses. Harle didn't need to understand her lover's words to know what she wanted. She saw it right in her eyes, glittering and sparkling with love and desire for her.

She felt the heat of her skin beneath her fingertips, felt its increasing stickiness as she roamed her body with her hands, leaving no place untouched. Kidd arched her back whenever Harle touched a sensitive spot, moaning softly. Harle drowned in the exhilarating sound of her uneven breathing, which became even more ragged the further her hands went. She ached to hear it, trailing her fingers along Kidd's burning skin as if marking her territory. She wanted it all. She slowly lifted Kidd's shirt until she had exposed her whole midriff. She placed a trail of kisses onto Kidd's firm stomach, her tongue tickling the bare skin until Kidd began to squirm under her. When Harle looked up to meet Kidd's eyes, she saw the pleasure written all over her face.

"Je…t'aime.", Harle breathed heavily, the words like steam on Kidd's skin. Harle felt the sides of her head being gripped and slowly pulled upwards by Kidd's trembling hands, holding it firmly in place as she came face to face with her lover.

"Love you…too.", Kidd whispered, her azure eyes locked onto Harle's crimson ones.

As if to seal this promise they had made countless times before, their lips met yet again in a soft and gentle touch.

While savouring the kiss, a sudden knock at the door startled them and they broke the kiss all too soon. Kidd eyed Harle questioningly, as if asking her to simply ignore the intrusive knock. Harle smiled evilly in response, which could only mean that she was going to leave her to open the door.

"Those buggers really know when ta disturb…", Kidd groaned and let her head drop back onto the pillow in defeat. "Whaddaya want?", she barked in direction of the door, hardly trying to sound friendly. Harle laughed at that and gave her a quick peck on the nose before climbing off of her.

"Behave.", she said and giggled, quickly pulling Kidd's shirt back down where she had lifted it while doing the same with hers where it revealed her midriff.

"Who iz it?", she sang out while making her way to the door, Kidd staring after her. Kidd couldn't imagine where this cheeriness came from, considering they had just been disturbed like this for the umpteenth time during their relatively short while on this ship.

"E…excuse me.", a shy voice from the other side of the door reached their ears. "May I come in?" She sounded unsure. Harle imagined she was taken aback by Kidd's harsh greeting.

With a friendly smile Harle unlocked the wooden door and opened it to reveal Riddel standing there with her hands clasped together.

"Bonsoir.", Harle greeted the other woman, stepping to the side to allow her to enter the room.

"Is it that late already? Did I sleep the whole bloody day?", Kidd called from her bed, obviously surprised. She wanted to complain when her eyes fell onto Riddel, and she smacked her head for not recognizing her voice earlier.

"Oi, if it isn't Riddel!", she exclaimed. "How are ya?"

With a curious glance at Harle's tousled hair and ragged clothes, Riddel passed the other woman and walked closer to the bed where Kidd lay. "I'm fine, thank you for asking.", she answered, regarding Kidd. She noticed the bloodied bandage around her thigh, the scratches and bruises on her arms and shoulders, and the thin layer of sweat covering her entire body.

"I'm sorry to see you in a lesser shape. This wound looks terrible. Do you have a fever?", she asked genuinely worried, stepping closer to her, but still keeping a certain distance.

"Fever?", Kidd asked surprised, touching her forehead with the back of her hand, feeling her damp skin cooling down slowly. Finally realizing what Riddel had meant, she laughed merrily, shaking her head. "No, nothing like that.", she answered and smiled mysteriously at Riddel. "Let's just say that Harle really likes to abuse invalids." At that, Harle had to giggle as well, coming closer to stand at the side of the bed. "Moi juzt wantz ze best pour mon patientz.", she replied with an innocent shrug.

Riddel frowned at them, not quite catching on. However, when she saw Harle sitting down on the bed and taking Kidd's hand into hers, her frown was replaced by a look of comprehension, and her usually pale cheeks turned into a dark shade of red. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry, I…I shouldn't have come here like this.", she stuttered, waving her hands apologetically while taking a few steps backwards.

"It'z no problem. Moi wanted to see toi anywayz.", Harle said calmly.

"Yeah, feel free ta stay. Too late anyway…", Kidd mumbled a complaint but shut up as she received a firm shove from Harle.

"Merci beaucoup…for taking uz here.", Harle said gratefully and bowed her head slightly. She had been awake since noon and had already talked to Riddel and about a few things that had happened, but she still wanted to show her gratitude formally, without countless people around.

"Huh? Ya took us here? How'd ya do that?", Kidd asked surprised. She had been unconscious the whole time, she didn't remember a thing. The last person she had seen was Luccia.

Riddel shook her head at the question, sitting down on a nearby stool. "I didn't do much to help you, I was simply the first one awake. I originally wanted to walk to the city to get help because you two would have been too heavy for me to carry, but I met your comrades on the way, and they carried you to this ship. It wasn't my doing.", she explained calmly.

"Still, thanks a lot.", Kidd said, trying to remember what had happened before she had passed out. She remembered herself lying on the floor, unable to move because of Luccia's card at her throat. She remembered Riddel bursting into the manor, and the streams of tears which ran down Luccia's cheeks. It seemed so surreal to her now. She even remembered what Luccia had said.

'_You are lucky she came to save you.'_

Kidd's face darkened at the memory, she wasn't sure what she should make of this sentence. "Thanks a lot, really.", she repeated thoughtfully. "I think she would've done a helluva lot worse if ya hadn't showed up."

"I…I didn't do anything.", Riddel spoke, confused. _'I couldn't do anything…'_

"Why did ya come ta the manor so late anyway?", Kidd asked, not exactly being one to believe in such coincidental meetings. Harle kept quiet but looked at Riddel as if she was asking the same question.

"I…I came from town and was on my way to the manor when two soldiers attacked me.", Riddel explained, careful to leave out the part about her having been at the warehouse before. She still wasn't sure how she was supposed to feel about what she had seen and heard there, and it would be useless to tell them about it if she didn't even understand it herself. "They threatened me and tied me to a tree, saying I would save their lives with this. I had no idea what they meant.", she added helplessly. To her surprise, Kidd started to laugh despite herself.

"You're really prone ta kidnappin' n stuff, aren't ya?", she asked, smirking. Riddel instantly recalled the event when Kidd had been the one using her as a shield to keep the surrounding soldiers from attacking. She could still remember the uncomfortable feeling of the blade of Kidd's dagger against her throat. She had been afraid, despite Kidd's calming words.

"I think so.", Riddel simply answered and shrugged. If there was something about herself that caused her to be the victim of such things, she couldn't help it. "I don't think the soldiers wanted to harm me, however. Both of them were women, and while the leader of the two was rather cold, the other woman was so kind as to give me her jacket."

Kidd stared at the jacket, which she hadn't really taken note of before, aside from it being a little too large for Riddel. "That's a Viper uniform…why would they…?", Kidd mumbled thoughtfully.

"Clair and Eve.", Harle said suddenly, grasping the situation sooner than Kidd. "Zey needed you az an insurance in case Viper waz at ze warehouse."

"I assume that was their reason.", Riddel said solemnly. She didn't like this talk, it lead her to things she would rather not have to think about.

"Kinda smart of them.", Kidd remarked almost proudly, but abruptly halted her thoughts. "Wait, how did they know Viper was there? And why is the hostage here and they aren't? Makes no sense." However, Kidd knew that the possibility was high that Viper had been at the warehouse, for he hadn't been at the manor.

"Zey haven't returned yet.", Harle said darkly, hoping the two women were alright.

"Viper…I bet that bastard did somethin' ta them.", Kidd hissed and clenched her fists, looking at the ceiling. "I'll have him pay for this." The thought of what could have happened to Eve and Clair made her sick. It was her fault for sending them to the warehouse.

A sharp gasp disrupted her thoughts and she looked to the side to see Riddel, who had gotten up abruptly, pushing over the stool she had been sitting on before. Kidd suddenly felt a pang of guilt, only now realizing that Riddel was actually Viper's daughter. It was so hard to believe, and yet, it made things so much more difficult. She saw the sudden fear in Riddel's eyes and immediately regretted having said something like this.

"What do you plan to do to my father!", Riddel shouted in horror, her eyes frantically moving from the women to the door and back. The sudden thought of being on a pirates' ship made her uneasy. She hadn't given it much thought when she was brought here, her mind too confused to notice anything. But now, the thought of being kept on this ship crossed her mind. She felt so stupid, blindly clutching onto people she didn't know the intentions of. She didn't know anything.

Harle stood up, trying to walk over to Riddel to calm her, but as she touched the other woman's arm, Riddel yanked it off, walking further away from them.

"You'll let me off this ship right now!", she demanded.

"Moi iz afraid we can't do zat unless you listen to uz firzt.", Harle said offhandedly, not trying to stop Riddel from opening the door and running outside. Using force would just cause her to be even more afraid of them, and that would just not do.

"Listen? I'm supposed to listen to people who want to kill my father! You can't make me do this!", Riddel cried, shaking her head violently. Why did things have to be like that? She wished she could just sit in her room in front of her window, simply watching the world without having to take part in it. She just wanted to be a child again, oblivious to everything. She wanted to go back to that time. Back to the time when her "daddy" had still been the greatest person in the world.

"Dammit, Riddel, ya don't know anythin'!", Kidd shouted suddenly, sitting up on the bed. "Yer daddy isn't all nice, no matter what ya might think. He's a bloody cold-hearted criminal who wants ta kill people like us over three bloody sheets of paper!" She'd had enough of this. She didn't hate Riddel, but she just had to know what was going on. She had to and deserved to know the truth without any sugar-coated phrases. It was the plain truth that her father was a bastard who didn't care about other people's lives but his own. Kidd couldn't imagine him any other way. Kidd didn't know if she was angrier about the fact that Viper was undoubtedly alive, or the revelation of Riddel not knowing anything about her father's doings. How could she not know about such things?

"You're lying!", Riddel screamed, covering her ears with her hands. She couldn't bear listening to them any longer. They were lying, every single word had to be a lie. Her father wasn't like that, he loved her. He wouldn't do these kinds of things, he just wouldn't. The memory of the talk her father had in his office entered her mind, but she erased the thought mercilessly, determined not to let herself be swayed by such things. It was just a misunderstanding, once she met her father, he would clear everything up. Surely.

"You are pirates, how could you possibly accuse my father of being a criminal?", she asked angrily, staring at them. "You are the criminals!"

Harle half smiled, half winced at Riddel's accusation. She noticed that, aside of her anger, it also pained Riddel to call them criminals. Poor Riddel, to be thrust into this world of evil without having ever asked for it. Harle didn't enjoy seeing Riddel being corrupted by this new world she found herself in, but also knew that it was necessary. She couldn't hide forever. Sooner or later, someone would have stopped Viper, or rather, she would have realized herself. Only that it would have been too late by then. It was necessary for her to know.

"It iz correcte zat we are no saints, zat iz somet'ing odder people are needed for. Encore…your fat'er iz doing t'ingz you have no knowledge of. He haz to be stopped, or many people will have to suffer. Moi doez not expect you to believe uz, mais moi expectz zat you see for yourself.", Harle said, walking past Riddel who shirked back. She opened the door and walked outside.

"Follow moi.", she said silently. It was neither an order nor a request. Harle didn't wait for her but simply walked out into the corridor, heading for the stairs. After a few moments, she heard hurried steps behind her, and smiled slightly. She was too good.

Back in the cabin, Kidd's eyes followed Riddel until she got out of sight. Harle was so good with these things, so calm and rational. She would make Riddel understand, even though Kidd still believed that a good smack over the head would work just as well.

* * *

"This thing is quite bothersome.", Viper said, obviously annoyed. He didn't care much about transportations through dragons, he preferred going by ship, which was far less suspicious on top of being more comfortable. 

"Transportation is not its primary function, as you may know.", Luccia answered coldly, hiding her angry eyes from his view. What did he know, about her creations? He had wanted a powerful creature as his own to toy with, to replace a whole legion of his pitiful soldiers, and she had given him such a toy. Now he complained about its size, and his inability to hide it. He blamed his toy for his faults to accommodate. "I fear I do not have the means to make it invisible." She forced herself to sound calm, for any anger resulted in the resurfacing of her accent, which she had tried to battle for far too long now. She knew it was there, always waiting for her concentration to slip even a little, but she wouldn't let it strike.

"Take care of it, I don't care how you do it.", Viper simply said. He watched the dragon with a contemptuous glare, which matched the dragon's own expression which was invisible to Viper. Luccia's lips curved into a sadistic smile. The dragon loathed Viper even more than it did its creator, her. It was a satisfying feeling, and Luccia wondered when the dragon would finally revolt. She knew it would, sooner or later, and she was almost impatient to see these flaws finally surface with full force. It was a failure, and as such, it would not function any longer according to her wishes. It was her failure, a simple underestimation of willpower. Nothing more.

It was merely a prototype, the next one would be perfect. She had hoped to get her hands on a better subject for the next experiment, a strong and healthy body that needed hardly artificial improvement to be perfect. She had thought she had found this subject, but in the end, her will would have been too strong to govern. It was surprising. Despite being the worst of traitors, her will was still strong. It was the will of someone who knew about right and wrong, and still chooses the wrong path with full intent. It was despicable, but Luccia couldn't kill her, no matter how much she would enjoy seeing it. It would make her even worse a traitor.

In the end, the few materials she possessed would have to do, her time didn't allow to gather more. It meant little, she had everything she essentially needed. Her ingredients. She could hardly wait to see the face of this shameless woman the moment she was crushed by her own blood. She had already waited too long to see this impertinent smile fading.

Viper would never be able to appreciate her creation, but she never intended it to fit his demands. It was hers alone, created for only this one goal.

"And also, I want a report on what happened at the manor once you join me at our meeting place.", Viper, whom she had thought already gone, disrupted her thoughts. Luccia averted her eyes from the dragon and looked at Viper. He stood with his back to her.

"Of course.", she replied dutifully, expecting him to leave her alone now. But he kept standing there for a few moments, and Luccia watched him in bewilderment.

"My daughter…was she at the manor?", he suddenly asked, his voice changed. If she didn't know better, she would have thought he sounded almost fearful. Luccia was glad he had his back turned to her, or her crumbling expression would have given her away.

"No, she wasn't. He and I had been the only occupants of the manor at the time. All of the soldiers had been at your disposal.", Luccia said with as steady a voice as she could muster, for the first time looking at the man standing not too far away from her, his eyes glassy and his body motionless.

It was better if Viper didn't know where his daughter was, it kept Riddel safe from his influence. She didn't want Riddel to become like him, and even though she hated the thought, she didn't want her to know about her father's doings. It was enough if Riddel knew about her. She shouldn't know about these things at all. But she also knew that Viper had sent some of his men to look for his daughter and despite hoping Riddel would just run away from all this, she knew it was all too likely that she would run to them with open arms. There wasn't anything Luccia could do, she was too far away. But she was also relieved that Viper showed at least a modicum of concern for his daughter, which meant that Riddel had yet to be added to Viper's list of 'acceptable losses'. It was only a small relief, though.

"I see.", came the only reply from Viper, but his voice betrayed him. Luccia noticed, but said nothing and watched him leave. He knew she had just lied to him as much as she knew that he used to lie to her. Their conversations were a single battle of who could lie better than the other, yet neither of them would ever accuse the other, for they both knew that they were bound to each other against their will. It was mere charity of both sides that they had not tried to kill each other yet, though Luccia was always prepared. She longed for the day to finally break free from him. But until that day, she would have to follow him, following her own plans in the dark, where his eyes didn't reach.

* * *

"Tell me we'll be there soon…", Clair moaned, clinging onto Eve heavily. 

"We'll be there soon.", Eve answered.

"You've told me that for the last thirty minutes and I still don't even see the harbour!", Clair complained, causing Eve to sigh in dismay.

"It's not my fault.", she chuckled. "You were the one forcing me to lie in the rain with you. It's your fault you feel so bad now."

"I'm not feeling _that _bad.", Clair replied and giggled, leaning even more into Eve. "It's just that my feet kill me."

"Yeah, we shouldn't have done that detour to look for lady Riddel.", Eve said wearily. If she had known they were walking into the opposite direction of the harbour, only to find out that Riddel had freed herself on her own, she would have saved them the trouble.

"Honestly.", Clair agreed. "But I'm glad she escaped on her own, saved us the trouble of dealing with her. I bet she would have lectured us for hours." She meant it in a funny way, but Riddel's behaviour still puzzled her. She was definitely not the person they thought her to be.

"Really, it was kind of weird that she wasn't scared of us at all.", Eve chuckled. "Maybe she's used to this."

"Probably, rich daughters are such likely targets. Although I'll be sure to keep my distance from those kinds of rich daughters in the future.", Clair said and laughed, Eve joining in shortly afterward.

They reached the harbour about half an hour later, and Clair was grateful there weren't many people around, for she wasn't too keen on being seen in her wet and mud-covered clothes. Which didn't mean that she regretted playing in the dirt.

"The ship is right there.", Eve said, pointing towards the big wooden ship that lay at anchor not too far away from them. She smiled with relief to have finally reached it, but was also slightly worried. "What…what will we tell them?"

Clair looked at her friend thoughtfully. "I'm not sure, but we should hear them out first.", she said. "You want to know it as well, don't you? About Harle?"

Eve looked surprised, but nodded glumly. "It sounded unbelievable. What did he call her? A goddess? What was that supposed to mean? And telling us that she killed children in an orphanage…I don't know which of the two sounds less believable."

Clair kept silent, not wishing to share her thoughts. She didn't want to tell Eve that she had actually believed what Viper had told them. It just sounded so…fitting, despite its grotesqueness. But she still remembered this look on Harle's face when she had tried to comfort Clair, this sad look, as if she tried to hide a thousand sins behind her red eyes. The thought was extremely disconcerting, but it was something she had been thinking about since she had that talk with Harle. She was definitely hiding something, but whether or not it was a secret this dark, she did not know. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know, either.

"But I guess we'll find out soon enough.", Eve said with a smile, but the smile fell as she saw Clair's brooding expression. She stopped and turned to Clair, taking her hands in her own. "Don't worry so much. Just remember, whatever they may tell us, we can always run away.", Eve said encouragingly.

"Can we really do that?", Clair asked doubtfully.

"Of course we can! If you say we run, then we run. I don't care where we'll end up, but I'll make sure that we won't have anything to do with all this mess anymore.", Eve said enthusiastically.

"You would regret it.", Clair mumbled, turning away from Eve.

"I wouldn't!", Eve said earnestly, gripping Clair's hands harder. "I have to admit, I'm not sure if running away would be the best decision, but as long as I'm keeping my promise, I won't regret a thing. Just trust me on this."

"You…really mean it, don't you?", Clair whispered. She slowly leaned closer to Eve, giving her enough time to step back in case she was going too far. But instead, she embraced her and pulled her closer, offering her chest for Clair's head to lean on.

"Of course I mean it, silly.", Eve said soothingly, stroking the other girl's hair. "But let's go, I bet the others are waiting."

Clair nodded at that and Eve released her to help her climb up the rope ladder to reach the deck of the pirate ship. Eve followed suit, having less difficulties to climb up without help due to her better condition.

Up on the deck, the two women immediately drew the looks of the pirates onto themselves as well as the tips of at least a dozen sabers.

"Hold on!", Eve shouted, raising her hand in defeat. "Don't you remember us?"

The pirates didn't seem to hear her, coming closer with scrutinizing eyes.

"Whaddaya doin' ya buggers? Leave 'em alone!", Kidd suddenly shouted, standing in the frame of the door that lead to the lower decks, her arms proudly crossed before her chest. The other pirates immediately stepped backwards, putting their sabers back into place.

"They might look like crap but those are still Eve n' Clair, so be a little nicer.", Kidd added and grinned.

"Thanks for the welcome.", Eve said and smirked, walking up to Kidd. "I guess I don't get a 'welcome back' hug, though."

"Yer friend will have ta do for hugs I'm afraid.", Kidd answered and pointed to Clair. "Good ta see you're back though, I was gettin' worried. I guess things didn't go like they were supposed ta?", she asked, growing serious. Aside from all the dirt and their wet clothes, Kidd also noticed their battered bodies and tired expressions, and didn't need much imagination to guess what had happened.

"Yeah, we kinda messed up.", Eve answered, trying not to sound too depressed. "But talking about messing up, you don't look very well either." Eve pointed to the thick bandage around Kidd's thigh, wincing at the sight of it.

"Ya can say that again.", Kidd said but laughed, much to Clair's and Eve's surprise.

"What's so funny about that?", Clair asked with a frown. She still didn't know what to think of Kidd and acting cheery despite the situation didn't help any.

"Moody, aren't we?", Kidd asked and smirked at Clair, but upon receiving a glare from Eve, decided to stop teasing. "We still got one chance, so nothin's lost yet."

"Is that so?", Eve and Clair asked in unison. Kidd eyed the two in mild confusion, she had a feeling that something more than getting beaten up had happened to them. But she also saw that their patience was low, so she kept silent.

"C'mon in, I'll show ya.", she said and turned around, leading them to the captain's office. The room was dim, the only source of light being a candle on a large table which was covered with maps. Eve and Clair needed to squint to be able to see everyone in this room, but when they did, they gasped in surprise.

"L…lady Riddel!", Eve stuttered, causing the woman in question to lift her head from the map.

"You two.", Riddel answered simply, not surprised to see her attackers at all.

"What's going on here?", Clair asked abruptly, looking mainly at Harle who stood to the right of Riddel. "Why is she…why is Viper's daughter here? What's the meaning of this?" She spoke louder than she intended to, causing everyone to stare at her.

"Geez, I guess we have a lot of explainin' ta do.", Kidd said and scratched the back of her head. "Ya do it, Harle."

Harle nodded, eyeing the ex-soldiers. "Riddel iz our prisoner volontaire. She iz neutral, which meanz she iz neidder against, nor wit' us. However, she wantz to know ze trut' az much az we all do. Zerefore she stayz on zis bateau, az our protégé."

"So she stays here under your protection? It's probably better that way.", Clair spoke, eyeing Riddel with a hint of contempt. "Wouldn't you like to know how much your daddy cares about you?"

"What are you saying?", Riddel asked, trying to stay calm. She had heard too much already to lose her nerve so quickly. Everything she would hear now could not be any worse that the things she had heard from Harle earlier, and the things she had seen already.

"I'm saying that your dear father didn't care whether you died or not, he didn't even want to believe us.", Clair spat, angry at the memory.

"This just means that he didn't take you seriously, which goes to show how well he can read people.", Riddel answered coolly. She would listen to every word they had to say, but wouldn't allow herself to believe a single one of them until she finally learned the truth. Until she met her father again, she would put up with their hatred for her father as if it was nothing to her.

"You're saying we should have been more serious then? Like, killing you right on the spot?", Clair said angrily, she couldn't stand this woman in front of her. She was so unbelievably cocky despite her situation, and Clair began to wonder just how much she really knew. She had been so unimpressed when she and Eve had attacked her, as if she knew exactly why they were doing it. Riddel was too much of a mystery to not doubt her intentions. She wouldn't trust her so easily, or anyone else, for that matter.

"That's enough, Clair.", Eve said in a low voice, only for Clair to hear. She knew what Clair was thinking, and she still had doubts herself, but fighting each other wouldn't help them at all. "It's true that Viper seemed to care little about you at the time, but that's not the important part. Viper blew up the whole warehouse." As expected, she received questioning glances, and Riddel looked at her in disbelief.

"Did anything happen to him?", she asked, unable to hide her worry.

"Unfortunately not. He took all the important things with him and left the rest to burn to ashes. There's nothing left. No proof at all.", Eve explained slightly annoyed. She hadn't seen Viper escape from the warehouse, she had been too far away, but judging from what Viper had told his soldiers, it had most likely been this way.

"Smartass.", Kidd snorted. She had to admit that Viper wasn't all that dumb when it came to covering his doings. He had caused them so much trouble already, but they had yet to find proof of what he was doing, exactly.

"And that's all ya know?", she asked after a few moments. Eve only nodded in response.

"Our turn, then.", Kidd started, looking at the five people around her, including the captain, who had stayed silent until now, his brows furrowed thoughtfully. She idly wondered what the cause for his unusual pensiveness could be, but moved onward to explain their situation. "We haven't accomplished much, but we know now that Viper isn't our only enemy. There's also Jack, who's bein' manipulated, and Luccia, the famous mad scientist.", Kidd explained darkly. With Luccia on Viper's side, it didn't look too good for them. Luccia could have a whole army of manipulated people on her side, for all Kidd knew.

"She isn't mad!", Riddel interrupted her before she knew what she was doing. "How dare you say such things about her?", she added in a lower voice. She didn't know why she said it, but listening to them talking about Luccia like this made her angry. The memory of what Luccia had done to her before she fell unconscious flashed through her mind suddenly, and Riddel touched her lips absent-mindedly. Their lips had touched…but Riddel didn't know if she could call it a kiss, or just that, a touching of lips. Nothing more. She still felt the coldness of Luccia's lips on hers, this eerie coldness. It had been a feeling too strange to be described by words, too strange for Riddel to know how she was supposed to feel about it.

Kidd winced at Riddel's outburst, she hadn't expected something like that from the rich daughter. "It's the bloody truth.", she said matter-of-factly, which didn't mean that she liked it. She would prefer to think of Luccia as a sensible woman, but it seemed out of the question now. No matter if she had been a friend of Lucca, no matter that she had given her this important last letter from her, she was still mad. She wouldn't do something like this if she wasn't, Kidd was sure of that. However, Riddel was neither satisfied nor silenced by this statement.

"It is not! She has her reasons, you don't know anything about her.", she said, her resolve slowly fading. Kidd used the opportunity and broke it completely.

"But you do?" Riddel stared at Kidd. Of course she didn't. But she had liked to think she did, and until the previous night, she had still clung to that thought. But it was the plain truth, that in fact, she didn't know anything. She didn't know this woman who had assaulted Kidd, the woman who had called her beautiful while having such hard eyes, the woman who had kissed her. The woman who had walked away from her ten years ago.

"I don't, but I firmly believe that she has a reason for what she does.", she managed to say with a last shred of dignity.

"I bet she does, tryin' ta kill us n' all. She must have some serious reasons for that.", Kidd snorted. "She can prove she's not mad as much as she wants once she's surrendered."

"You won't kill her, then?", Riddel asked. She didn't know why she was so hopeful, why she was so worried about her. But the mere thought of her dying before she got the chance to talk to Luccia properly ripped her heart in two, leaving it to bleed. She had to know, she didn't think she could survive with not knowing. She was determined to find out the truth before she lost her again. She hadn't gotten any answers ten years ago, she had been too much of a coward back then. But she would have Luccia tell her, the next time they met.

"I've no idea what you're thinkin' 'bout me, but I don't kill people just like that. Not if I can avoid it. We're not assassins or somethin'.", Kidd snapped rather angrily. Nobody seemed to understand this. She didn't want to kill Luccia, but she knew that she would have to, in case Luccia had completely succumbed to her madness. She looked around, searching for Harle's eyes for support, not noticing Clair's body twitch at the word 'kill', neither the helpless and frightened glance she shot at Harle. She found Harle's eyes closed in thought.

"Anyway, we better hurry ta Guardia, there's no other place they'd be heading ta.", Kidd said, looking over to the captain, who nodded in agreement, a small grin on his face. He seemed to enjoy seeing Kidd making the decisions, while he merely observed. Kidd turned back to the others, expecting them to agree also, but she only received empty looks from Clair and Eve, a pensive frown from Harle, and a shocked stare from Riddel.

"…Guardia?", Riddel breathed, her eyes flickering with sudden understanding. It couldn't be…

"What's wrong? Look at these maps, there's only Guardia left!", Kidd said in annoyance, interpreting Riddel's stare as one of disapproval.

"The queen…", was all Riddel managed to utter. She should have told them earlier. By looking at the maps, she hadn't realized, but now that the name was spoken, it started to make sense.

"Reine Marle? What iz ze matter wit' her?", Harle asked, voicing Kidd's question who just stared back at Riddel in confusion. "What do you know?"

"My father, he…", she whispered, unsure of how to say it. It made so much sense, and yet…she didn't want to believe it to be true.

"That bastard, what's he plannin'!", Kidd shouted, ready to grab Riddel at the collar to make her speak, but Harle stopped her with a firm grip.

Clair and Eve just watched in shock, Clair's features worsening with each word that was spoken. She wasn't aware that she had instinctively reached out to grab Eve's hand, holding it in hers. So much was happening right in front of her eyes, and yet, it had nothing to do with her. Nothing would change if she were to disappear right in that moment. It had nothing to do with her, but she couldn't keep from staring and listening, absorbing every single word. She wanted to run, but hearing all this, she knew it was too late already. She knew too much already to ever be able live with herself in case she ran. She couldn't. She was already too close to the raging flames of war. She couldn't run anymore, only burn.

"The queen…", Riddel cried, "an assassin is going to kill her."


	17. Secret wishes

A/N: Whew, finally done. Blame Xenosaga II and Fatal Frame III for that, as well as my recent obsession with Bleach XD Thanks for the reviews once again, I really appreciate your opinions on this. I hope you'll enjoy this chapter as well.

Chapter 17 – Secret wishes

It had taken them almost two days already and they still hadn't arrived. Two days that Kidd had spent pacing across the ship, never standing still for more than a few seconds. Two days she had cursed, over and over again. Everyone could see she was worried to no end, but no one could offer help. Not even Harle.

Harle lay on her bed, lost in thought. There really wasn't anything she could do as long as they hadn't reached Guardia other than waiting. There wasn't anything she could do, and yet, she felt so restless, useless. She wanted to do something.

Those things Riddel had told them…it must have been a shock for Kidd. Marle was the only remaining person she could call family. To know that someone was out to kill her had to be ripping her heart in two with her inability to do something. She had to be sick with worry. She had seen Kidd's face crumble with pain and disbelief. The news had been outrageous, and yet, they hadn't questioned Riddel in the least. They knew she would never tell such a thing about her father if it wasn't true. They knew she still loved her father beyond imagination. It had been brave of her to tell them.

And still, Harle wondered how Riddel knew such a thing, and at the same time be so shocked to hear other things about her father. Riddel had told them she had been eavesdropping on him in front of his office door, listening to a conversation her father had shared with an unknown person with the words "get rid of her" and a high amount of money at its centre.

Harle didn't like how it really sounded like an assassination request, and the price was certainly fitting for someone like a queen. The probability that Guardia inhabited many other women worth killing for this amount of money wasn't exactly high.

Either way, they didn't have much of a choice as long as they didn't know for sure who the target would be. They had to head for the castle, quickly. Riddel had told them her father had set the time of the assassination on three days. The third day had begun hours ago already, and it irritated her that Guardia was still out of sight. It could be too late already. It unnerved her that Kidd could still do nothing else than pace the deck, even though it was raining enough to drown the world.

Harle idly wondered what the others were doing. Eve and Clair had agreed to help, things had gotten too much for them to simply ignore and it would weigh too heavy on their minds not to do something. Harle knew Kidd was grateful for their help, despite the fact that she had run out of the room without another word, to assemble everyone to head for Guardia. She hadn't even talked to the captain first, as if knowing he would simply let her make the decisions she deemed necessary. Harle had watched him, noticing the strange look he had given her as she left. He had looked proud, but also guilty. She hadn't been able to read his expression. It could have been guilt, shame, or simply the shock of what was happening. Harle couldn't rid herself from the thought that he was hiding something from them, though. It was an unpleasant feeling.

A reluctant knock broke Harle's train of thought, causing Harle to look at the door. "Entrée.", she called out, sitting up in her bed. The door opened slowly with a creak, and Clair stepped into the room. Her face was blank but Harle could see she was tired and worried.

"You don't look trés bien.", Harle commented, patting the spot next to her, inviting Clair to sit down. Clair silently sat down next to Harle, looking down at the wooden flooring.

"I don't think anyone does, right now.", she muttered and sighed.

"Zat may be correcte.", Harle said, looking at Clair. "Still, what iz it? You came to moi pour un reazon, non?" Her voice was gentle and Clair hung her head at the thought of what she was about to say.

"I...I wanted to ask you something." Her voice wasn't more than a mumble, and Harle leaned closer, curious.

Clair didn't know how to say this, she didn't even know if she should. They had decided to help them after all, and things would just get unpleasant if she brought up things like this. And yet, she couldn't help it. She just had to know.

"When we confronted him, he…Viper…he told us…things…about you.", Clair said, her voice wavering. She couldn't think of a way to say this without it sounding terrible. "He told us…unbelievable things." With that, Clair turned her head to Harle, seeing her previously attentive expression turn into a look of grim understanding. It scared her.

"Zeze t'ings were not exactly…chouette, iz moi correcte?", Harle asked, her voice completely even, as if she was talking about someone else. "He told you…ze most terrible t'ings, non?"

Clair chuckled at that, mentally kicking herself for having been so stupid. Of course Harle wasn't like that, how could she even think something like that of her? It was utterly ridiculous.

"I'm sorry I bothered you with this. Of course he lied.", Clair said and giggled, scratching the back of her head as she stood up, already heading for the door.

"Au contraire.", Harle's words halted Clair's hand on the handle of the door. "What he said may be correcte. Who knowz?" Harle eyed the other woman intently as she said this, awaiting her reaction. Her voice was nonchalant, and it almost frightened Clair. She wouldn't let it show, though.

"No, really, he told us such nonsense…", Clair said hastily, but couldn't bring herself to laugh anymore for fear it would sound awkwardly choked.

Harle stood up, walking towards Clair at a slow but determined pace. "Tell moi…what did he say? You wanted to know if he told you ze trut', non? Zat iz why you came here pour moi." Her tone wasn't at all unfriendly, much less threatening, but the way her voice didn't match her expressionless face made Clair step backwards unwillingly, not in fright, but surprise. She shouldn't have come here, for all of a sudden, she didn't want to know. At all. But it seemed to be too late now. She owed the other woman an explanation.

"He…he said you were a…goddess.", Clair said hesitantly, her voice growing quiet at the end. She couldn't bring herself to laugh and say how silly this sounded, for Harle's widening eyes caused her voice to die in her throat.

"Did he say zat? How amuzing, trés drôle.", Harle said, turning around quickly as if to shrug it off. She knew she shouldn't act so funny about it, but what was she to do, when forced to admit she was some kind of beast, a monster? She wasn't a goddess by any human definition. A goddess was supposed to be something people could look up to, pray to. She was no such thing. But how to explain something like this? It was all so difficult. Explaining why she was a dragon and not a human was as impossible as explaining why the colour of her hair was dark and not a bright, gentle blond she would have preferred. It was who she was, though she hadn't had a word in the decision at all.

"What…what did he mean with that?", Clair inquired, confused at Harle's behaviour. The moment these words left her mouth, Harle turned around to her, her crimson eyes glowing. But instead of stepping backwards in shock, Clair stared at her in fascination.

"A goddess. It'z who moi iz, it'z mon true self. Ze sevent' dragon. Ze goddess of ze dark moon." Her lips formed a dry smile but still gave away an almost invisible tremble as her eyes grew even brighter.

Harle knew the feeling that ignited this fiery blaze in her eyes. It was hatred, mixed with disgust and regret. Those feelings still came far too easily, but she could control the now. They didn't threaten her sanity anymore, or at the very least, she wouldn't let them do it. It was time she learned to deal with her dragon powers. To accept them, not thinking of them as a curse but a gift no one else had.

"So he…didn't lie?", Clair asked, trying to sound calm but failing miserably. Harle's eyes were intimidating, eerie, piercing right through her. And yet, Clair couldn't avert her eyes from this strange sight. Harle's eyes expressed so many emotions all at once, not trying to hide a single one.

"Non, Viper iz better zan zat. Lying iz beneat' him. Why should he lie, anywayz? It'z ze trut' zat hurtz ze most. Trut' causez people to suffer more zan lies. Une tragédie complètemente ridicule, non?" Harle's voice sounded sad, and the glow of her eyes wore off until it disappeared completely.

"What…what about the orphanage then? Is that true too? The children…", Clair's voice failed her at the end, now that she already knew the answer. The realization hurt her in a strange way she hadn't expected. She wasn't scared, or angry, or even disgusted and disappointed. She just felt pity.

"Such pauvre enfantz…zey screamed so loud in ze fire…screaming pour someone to help zem…but nobody came. Moi juzt watched zem, coughing and crying.", Harle explained, looking at Clair. Not a single tear rolled down her cheek, and her voice was steady, as if she had been a mere bystander, completely unaffected.

Clair closed her eyes, blocking off the sight of Harle for a moment to breathe. After she reopened them, Harle still looked at her, her face unreadable.

"So…you really killed them?" The question caused Harle to finally turn her head away from her, facing an empty wall.

"Oui…moi set ze fire. Ze door wazn't even locked. It would have been ze easiest t'ing to ezcape…mais, enfants panic so easily, non? Zey should have juzt run out of ze door in front of zem, and yet…ze deat' of zeir…mot'er waz too much for zem to t'ink clearly. Zey must have suffocated misérablement…", Harle explained, her neutral tone shattering at last, giving in to whimpers that threatened to become sobs.

Clair just stared at the other woman, shaking her head to free her mind of the ugly images that were forming in her mind. Images of children running around in panic, crying for help. Images of burnt bodies scattered on the ground. She could almost imagine the nauseating smell of burnt flesh and hair.

"Why…why did you do it?", she finally managed to choke out. She must have had a reason, she wanted to believe that Harle wasn't someone to just kill people like that. Memories of what Harle had told her a few days prior came to mind. "Did you…do it for someone important to you?", she asked quietly, causing Harle to face her again.

"Oui…non. Moi can't tell. Moi did it to honour ma famille, mais…moi also did it because of mon hatred pour humanz. So much has changed, moi can't tell anymore ze motives of zis odder Harle. It iz un parte of moi, mais it seemz too detached now. However, zis doezn't take ze sin from moi. It iz moi who iz guilty of having killed zem. Seulement moi." Harle added the last sentence with a tone of deep regret, watching as Clair walked past her.

"That's…", Clair started, sitting down on the bed heavily, "I don't know what to say." She knew it, now. But was she more satisfied? Her curiosity was sated, but at what price? Still, she couldn't bring herself to hate Harle. She hadn't known her for long, and maybe Clair was too focused on seeing the good sides of her, but she couldn't help but marvel at the other woman. Her strength, her wisdom, her calming nature.

Harle nodded at Clair's comment, understanding completely. It was better like this. She didn't need to hear what the other woman was thinking, she knew it already. She knew how torn Clair was, trying to weigh her own sins against Harle's, coming to the conclusion that someone like her could not blame her, sad as it was.

"People are pretty disgusting when it comes down to it, aren't they?", Clair said and chuckled, only to wince afterward at the sound of it.

"Love and hate make people do disguzting t'ings. It haz never been diferente.", Harle said, approaching the bed Clair was sitting on with slow steps. "Ze only way to ezcape zis iz not to feel anyt'ing, anymore. It iz not a very fortunate alternative however. One only few people choose. So ze only option left for ze rest iz to alwayz struggle for eternal peace, wit'out ever achieving it."

"A useless struggle indeed…", Clair sighed as she leaned back to lie down on the bed, thinking about their situation. It was hard to accept that someone would have to pay the price in the end. Because of all that had happened so far, they could hardly end all this without a sacrifice. It had gone too far to just say sorry and be done with it. There had been killing so far, and killing would also have to end this. There was no other way, was there?

"Does…Kidd know about this too?", she asked, taking her thoughts into an other direction. She tried to imagine how Kidd could always be so cheerful and strong when Harle was so guilty. It was hard to understand, just like it was with Eve. She couldn't believe Eve could still stand being around her. She had accepted all this so easily. But Clair tried not to doubt herself any longer, she just wanted to believe in Eve, and trust her.

A wince made her turn her eyes to Harle, who was grimacing at her question. "Zere iz no way she would not have known. It waz her famille moi killed back zere. She waz ze only survivor."

A gasp was all Harle heard in response. She looked at Clair who lay frozen on the bed, her eyes wide. After a few moments of contemplation, she turned her head away from Harle, trying to hide her shock, even though she knew it was more than evident. She knew she should say something, she was the one who wanted to know all this in the first place, but words failed her. Again.

Harle watched her, knowing she wouldn't receive any other reaction from her but silence. She knew Clair was thinking about saying something, or running from the room altogether, finding none of both options satisfactory, which was why she still lay there. Harle wondered how she would react in such a situation. She would be afraid, most likely.

"It iz too long a story, mais moi will understand if you wish to leave zis ship once we reach Guardia.", Harle said to give Clair the opportunity to say something, even though she knew the answer she would get.

Clair looked back at Harle, seeing a small smile on her face, encouraging her. "No, I…we won't leave you now. We said we would help, and that's what we'll do. We will trust you, if only because there is no one else we can trust anymore."

This caused Harle to chuckle, and her smile widened. "Merci beaucoup. Zere are not many people such az yourself.", she said and reached out her hand in gratitude.

Clair took it and let herself be dragged into a sitting position. She was about to let go of it when she noticed a strange mark on the back of Harle's hand. "What's this?", she asked, turning Harle's hand to look at it more closely. It was only a small spot in the centre, but it had an angry red colour.

Harle withdrew her hand for a moment, looking at it for the first time. "It lookz like un sting. Moi hazn't noticed it before.", she said with a frown, but shrugged.

"Didn't know there were so many insects around, I guess I'll have to be careful.", Clair said and smirked, standing up from where she had been sitting on the bed in front of Harle. "Well, I'd better check up on Riddel, got to apologize for having been so mean to her, I really don't know what had gotten into me." She waved her hand to dismiss the thought and made her way to the door, turning around once more before exiting it.

"By the way, you should get Kidd out of the rain up there, she'll catch a cold." Clair giggled at Harle's grimace, quickly adding "Drag her if you have to."

"Moi will do zat.", Harle replied, a mischievous smile forming on her lips as she thought different ways to get Kidd out of the rain. Kidd had been understandably resistant so far.

Harle's eyes swerved to her side, seeing Clair still at the door, her hand on the handle without pushing it down. Harle opened her mouth to speak but Clair interrupted her.

"Thank you…Harle.", she almost whispered, and Harle had to strain to hear it. Before she could answer however, Clair was already out the door.

* * *

"Riddel, are you in there?", Eve asked as her knuckles hit the wood of the door for the third time. After a few moments she heard a faint "Come in" from the other side of the door and moved to open it. 

Inside, she saw the taller woman sit at a table passively, her fingers drawing invisible circles on its surface. "What is it?", she asked without looking up, having recognized Eve's voice.

"You okay?" Eve asked with genuine concern, closing the door behind her almost inaudibly. She stepped closer to the table. "You look pale."

Riddel snorted at that, a rather unladylike sound that made Eve look at her questioningly. "I'm perfectly fine, please leave me alone." She wearily laid her head onto the back of her hands, the fingers intertwined.

Eve chose not to listen, and sat down at the table opposite of Riddel. The room was swaying slightly, a sign that the weather had gotten worse. She had yet to get used to this.

"It's about your father, isn't it?" Eve's voice was soft and gentle, but Riddel still refused to look at her.

"Why would someone like you care? You have turned your back on him, you want to see him dead.", Riddel said darkly, her fingers tensing. It wasn't just about her father, it wasn't. But no one would understand. She didn't even understand it herself.

"That's not true...I just want to prevent him from causing a lot of trouble. Trying to kill the Queen of Guardia is not to be taken lightly, never mind his other plans…", Eve explained, looking at the plain surface of the table in front of her.

"What do you mean by that?", Riddel asked, unable to hide her curiosity any longer. She lifted her pale head to look at Eve, and Eve saw the evident confusion in them. It wasn't much of a surprise, Riddel was going through a lot. Eve wouldn't want to be in her shoes.

She looked back at Riddel, trying to think of what to say. She didn't really have any idea about what Viper was doing, really.

"You see…he had all those guns stored on board the Longinus One, I think he wanted to bring them to the warehouse.", she said thoughtfully as she tried to figure out just why he had done what he did.

"My father has a whole army at his disposal. What would a few guns mean to him?", Riddel asked, her fingers twirling on the tabletop.

"I don't think you know just how much of a difference these guns make in comparison to ordinary swords.", Eve said earnestly as she shot Riddel a stern look. "He would have certainly gained some power with those."

"Power to do what!", Riddel snapped angrily, having heard enough. They could talk on and on, but the fact remained that both of them didn't know anything and she would rather not talk about such things which only caused her to get even more confused. She couldn't bear this anymore. She had to see her father, soon. She had to see _her_, soon.

Eve regarded Riddel for a few moments, then bowed her head. "I'm sorry. It's just…hard not to think he's plotting something." With that, she stood up, seeing Riddel's forehead return to the back of her hands.

Not wanting to bother the other woman any further, she turned her back to Riddel and walked to the door. She was disappointed with herself, for having come to cheer Riddel up, but leaving her after having done the opposite. She felt like leaving her all alone.

"I know.", she heard Riddel whisper, but didn't turn to look at her. Instead, she opened the door. The sound of heavy and rushed footsteps which had previously been silenced by the thick wood now reached her ears, and it took her a few seconds to realize that the figure which had just been passing her by was Kidd. Eve heard her knock impatiently at each door she was passing, shouting "We're there!", "Come on out!" and "Get ready!" in an unsteady succession.

Eve saw the urgent expression on her face, and immediately gripped her sword and stepped out of the cabin, seeing Harle do the same, only with a much more eager look. She seemed to be glad and watched Kidd fondly.

"Eve! What's the matter?", Clair, who came running towards her, asked worriedly. In her right hand she held her rod, and Eve watched it in satisfaction. She hadn't given up yet. She was still ready. She turned to look at Clair and saw her clear and strong eyes. Her overshadowed expression that had formed over the last few days had vanished. She was definitely ready.

"Seems we reached Guardia. We should hurry." Stepping back to make place for the rows of armed pirates passing them, Eve nodded to herself and followed suit after locking her hand with Clair's, reaching the deck with everyone else.

The rain was still coming down hard, and the sky was dark with black clouds, the line of light on the horizon growing thinner slowly but steadily. It was almost dusk. The clouds above them rumbled angrily, as if to warn them of what lay ahead of them. And yet, nobody standing on the deck would be stopped now. It was too late for that.

"You're goin' ta turn Truce upside down and search for anythin' suspicious. Don't leave one bloody stone unturned." Kidd's voice as she pointed onto a large group of pirates was loud but hoarse, probably due to having shouted through the rain for too long already. Eve regarded her face with a pang of worry. Kidd looked tired, but desperation flared in her eyes. She would go to her limits and beyond. Eve envied her strong resolution, promising to herself that she would do everything she could to help her.

"Aye!", came the eager answer from her fellow pirates and without another order given to them, they jumped off the ship, swarming out towards Truce village. It was important for them to find something, anything, that would serve as proof against Viper. They would only stop him, but couldn't try him. Kidd intended to hand this task over to the Guardian Court, for Guardia was the deepest one involved with all this at the time.

"Will zey find somet'ing?", Harle, who stood right beside Kidd, asked. Kidd took another quick look at the map she held in front of her, confirming her suspicions once more. One of the crosses on the map was on Truce Village, there had to be something there.

"They'll have ta.", Kidd said grimly, rolling the map up to return it to its place at her belt. "As for ya three.", she said and regarded Clair, Eve and Riddel who had followed them onto the deck. Kidd couldn't help but smile weakly at the resolve each of them showed. "Help me save the queen or I swear I'll have ta kick yer sorry arses so hard you'll kiss the moons!"

Eve was the first to laugh at that, closely followed by Clair, and eventually by Riddel, albeit weakly. Eve, who stood in the middle, quickly took the hands of the women to her side and raised them high into the air.

"Aye!", the three of them shouted, and even though she felt guilty to feel that way, Riddel had to smile.

"Zey learn trés rapide, non?", Harle commented and smirked, leaning against Kidd. Kidd grinned in response, for a few moments masking her tired and worried expression.

"Let's go then!", she shouted, and was ready to leap forward when a firm grip on her shoulder halted her. She turned to see it was the captain.

"And ya think it's awright fer ya ta leave me alone on this ship with only three bloody weaklings?", he asked laughingly, pointing towards the three men who stood beside him. Aside from them no one was left.

"Aw, don't ya worry. Three pirates are enough ta fire three cannons, right?", Kidd answered, causing the captain to laugh even harder. "See ya."

Without another word, she took Harle's hand and both of them jumped off the ship and onto the harbour in unison, closely followed by Clair, Eve and Riddel, who did the same, only with slightly less elegance.

They dashed across the harbour, Kidd occasionally looking back to see if everyone was still following. They had to hurry, even though Kidd was well aware that Riddel's condition wouldn't allow her to run all the way to the castle.

* * *

"Three hours, understood?", Viper asked, hardly waiting for an answer as he distanced himself from Luccia. 

"Understood.", Luccia confirmed, not without a hint of stubbornness. The dragon beside her grunted, lying down on the wet grass beneath him. They were in a clearing not too far from the castle, a spot well enough hidden from the rest of the forest to not be seen easily, but not covered too much to not be able to see the path that ultimately lead to the castle's entrance. It didn't matter much however, for night would fall soon, and no one was suited better for the night than them.

"Don't mess this up, Luccia.", Viper added, for some reason not quite satisfied with the answer he had received. "You are nothing without me." His voice was hard and dangerous, and Luccia mused on how well he would like it if she just killed him right here, if just for having said _that_. But he was right, she couldn't. As long as she didn't have what she wanted, she couldn't afford to lose him.

"Of course.", came the short reply from Luccia. She disliked talking to him, who couldn't care less about what she said. She just wanted him to leave her alone with her creations.

She heard his footsteps growing quieter and watched him leave from the corner of her eye, his black coat blending into the darkness perfectly, making him almost invisible. Her own black and white outfit stood out more, but that was as much expected as wanted. After Viper had gotten out of sight, Luccia leaned against a tree and exhaled softly, closing her eyes. Just a bit more…only a few hours and the worst would be over with. She couldn't stand the thought of being near him any longer.

She heard the rustle of steps nearby, and moved her head in the direction the sound came from. "Sit down.", she said without opening her eyes, listening to the sounds indicating that Jack had sit down. He didn't mind the wetness of the ground, as she expected him to. He didn't seem to mind much at all.

She listened to the dragon, whose breathing was calm and even, telling her that he wouldn't cause any trouble just yet. Luccia knew he wanted to, but just like her, he couldn't just do as he pleased. He was just as much in shackles as she herself was. Unable to free himself. She almost felt sorry. She sometimes wondered what Viper's shackles looked like, wondered how strong they were. After all, there wasn't much that was able to restrain him.

"Once they're here, what will we do with them?", Jack asked, his voice sinister and his lips curling into an ugly, wicked grin. Luccia preferred not to look at him.

"We will stop them.", she answered simply but truthfully. After all, it was what they were here for. To stop them for three hours.

"Stop them…how?" Jack asked with a mock innocent voice, his grin widening as he took out two of his throwing knives, moving the blades across each other as if to whet them. They reflected the moonlight as clearly as glass. The blades made an irritating sound Luccia found hard to ignore.

The dose seemed to be losing effect, but it was no use to worry over this now. It just had to wait until this was over. Everything had to wait until this was over. She hated waiting, it only intensified the feeling of not having what she wished for.

"We will not kill them.", Luccia said in a low voice, eyeing Jack whose smile fell at her words.

"How very…kind of you. Such mercy.", he commented sarcastically, looking at Luccia with eyes that revealed more knowledge than she wanted him to possess.

Remarks like these made Luccia want to crush him, they let her see the utter lack of power over him. It made her want to cover his body with bleeding cuts just before dissecting him into a hundred shreds of failed humanity. She knew she would never do it, but she couldn't keep these thoughts from crossing her mind. She almost invited them, even. She was that ugly.

Still, something had gone wrong after all, but she would fix this, eventually. Once this was over, she certainly would. She was completely in control and wouldn't lose the same in front of what could only be described as her creation. All the alterations he had gone through at her hands made him her property. And yet, he wasn't what he should be.

Despite being an undeniable improvement, he still wasn't what she wanted. He was better than the current dragon, who observed them in a miserable attempt of feigned ignorance, but still not good enough. He still bore too many imperfections. She wasn't there yet.

The dragon snorted, and Luccia knew he was laughing at them. He was enjoying the pathetic struggle of power between them, and Luccia could hear his quickened breathing clearly.

She was completely in control. She was.

* * *

"I think…we should take a break.", Clair was the first to suggest, her voice hesitant, knowing full well the answer she was about to receive. 

They had entered a forest not too long ago, and even though she knew it was full moon, it was eerily dark, the high trees preventing the pale light to reach the ground in full splendour.

"No breaks, we're almost there.", Kidd answered, trying not to sound too harsh. There was absolutely no time for breaks, every passing minute could mean it was already too late. They had wasted so much time already, the fierce weather having already consumed so much of their time. She quickened her pace unconsciously, and while Harle had no trouble keeping up with her, the distance between them and the other three women grew. The ground was muddy and squashy under their steps, even though the rain had stopped about an hour ago.

Eve and Clair walked intentionally slowly, each having one of Riddel's arms on their shoulders to offer support to the slightly panting woman in the middle.

Riddel had sprained her ankle on the way, and having used a Recover element in her already weak condition, was now tired out and hardly able to walk on her own.

"But-", Clair tried to protest, but was silenced by the look Riddel gave her.

"I'm fine…I'm truly sorry to cause you such trouble.", she spoke between quick breaths. In truth she felt terrible, but she wouldn't allow herself to say so. She was already more than enough of a burden to people who owed her nothing, but still went out of their way to help her.

"Just…hold out a little longer, alright? We'll get you to the castle in no time, and get you back into top shape!", Eve said encouragingly and laughed gently, earning an appreciative glance from Clair. Riddel's face lit up slightly, and Eve hoped it would be enough to last until they had reached the castle.

"Thank you.", Riddel breathed, trying to ignore the sting this dealt to her pride, being practically carried like this. She felt useless and undeserving, and hoped the others didn't care.

They continued on in silence, each of them having their own reason for not speaking, may it be fatigue, worry or simply a lack of an appropriate topic, which was hard to find concerning their grim situation. The forest continued to get darker the further they went, and for a moment Clair wondered if they were heading the wrong way. After all, she had seen the tip of the castle even before they had entered the forest, surely it couldn't be that far.

"Here's the path leading ta the castle. We're almost there.", Kidd said eventually, turning around to wait for the others to reach her. "Can ya manage a little more?", she asked, her previously hard features softening at the sight of Riddel's tired face that was covered with a thin layer of sweat and slightly red underneath. Kidd assumed she had a fever as well, ordinary fatigue alone didn't look like this.

Riddel nodded in response. "Yes, I will be fine." With another look at Eve and Clair, she started walking again, but was soon stopped by an all too familiar voice.

"Why don't you rest a little bit? There is still plenty of time until the fireworks start."

Kidd was the first to spot her, seeing Luccia stand a few metres to her right. She immediately unsheathed her dagger and together with Harle, stood protectively in front of Clair, Eve and Riddel, who with the exception of Riddel had also taken out their weapons.

It was almost too dark to see her, but as she stepped out of the shadow of what they had assumed to be a rock, they saw Luccia wasn't alone. Both the dragon and Jack stood to her sides, the latter bearing a sickening grin on his otherwise handsome features.

"Luccia.", Kidd growled, her eyes darting from one enemy to the other, trying to analyze which one of them would pose the greatest threat. To her surprise, the dragon seemed to be the most harmless one. "Ya'd do better not standin' in our way! Let us through, now!", she shouted fiercely.

Kidd should have expected them to appear, but that didn't mean she had the time to deal with them now. Luccia being here could only mean that Viper was already at the castle. Maybe it was already too late. She didn't want to think about this possibility.

"I'm afraid I can't do that.", Luccia answered and allowed herself to smile. She wouldn't mess this up, for sure.

Kidd grunted at that, taking in her environment. With things standing like this, she didn't have a chance of reaching the castle in time. There was only one way.

With a start she dashed along the path that lead out of the forest, Harle closely following her. They only had to get out of this forest, and they would be almost there. Just a little bit more…

"Sorry ladies.", a sudden voice halted them, and they saw Jack standing before them, blocking their way with obvious satisfaction. "I can't let you through here." In his hands he held several throwing knives, and Harle prepared her cards, knowing she was at a disadvantage.

"Stop this, Jack! Let us through!", Kidd barked, losing her already short patience. However, Jack just smiled at her outburst, shrugging.

"Juzt what did you do wit' him, Luccia?", Harle asked, trying to keep her voice even despite the rush of fear she felt at the sight of Jack. Was he still too strong for her?

Luccia laughed at the question, a dark and hollow laugh, devoid of emotion. She averted her eyes from where she had fixed them on Riddel and saw Jack successfully driving Kidd and Harle backwards by walking towards them, until the five of them stood in a circle.

"I just gave him what he wanted, and he does me a favour in return.", she answered.

"What he…wanted? What waz zat?", Harle inquired, not satisfied with Luccia's answer. But her question only caused Luccia to laugh once more.

"Isn't it obvious? He was weak and sought for power. I gave him this power.", Luccia explained. It was almost the truth. Aside from enhancing his physical abilities, she didn't do that much. She didn't even mess with his mind, aside from injecting a few doses of drugs every now and then, to keep him from getting too self-absorbed with his newfound powers, and ending up ungrateful.

To do that, she simply had to lower his brain activity, practically shutting out possibly distracting thoughts and his unwanted will. However, once the paralyzing drugs wore off, the suppressed functions would come back with full force. Which was just one more reason to keep him under the influence of drugs all the time from now on, regardless of side effects.

"Well, if it's like this…", Kidd hissed, readying herself to attack Jack without holding back. She was ready to launch when Harle gripped her arm, stopping her.

"Not yet…", Harle breathed, only for Kidd to hear. Kidd didn't particularly like the idea, but tried to hold herself back. Her gaze shifted to Riddel, who stared at Luccia, unable to bring out a word, and Eve and Clair, who seemed too busy concentrating on how to protect her from possible attacks.

"It seems you don't appreciate Jack the way he is now. I wonder how you would like to see him in a more respectable form?", Luccia asked, drawing the straying looks onto herself once more.

"Whaddaya mean?", Kidd snapped, speaking for everyone. Her glances darted between Jack and Luccia, trying to be ready for any surprise attacks. When her eyes met Luccia's, she was greeted with a self-confident smile.

"I think he would look much better…as a dragon.", Luccia said darkly, snapping her fingers, which caused the dragon behind her to rise to its full height. His yellow eyes gleamed and he roared as he clawed his paws into the ground before him.

Kidd could see Harle trembling at its sight, and the shriek she heard shortly afterward confirmed her suspicions that Riddel did not know about this dragon, that this was the first time for her to see such a thing.

Her eyes were wide and she screamed at the top of her lungs, almost surpassing the dragon's roar, which ceased soon after. Eve and Clair stood in front of Riddel, their weapons held defensively.

Seeing Harle's increasing doubts, Kidd decided to voice the question among them. "What is this thing, Luccia!"

However, Luccia didn't look at Kidd, instead marvelling at the scared expression on Harle's face, enjoying every second of it. It was an expression that showed how hard she tried not to be afraid, but failing due to the sheer similarity to the Black Dragon God she knew and killed. Luccia was well aware that Harle knew this dragon not to be a Dragon God, but still enjoyed the thought of killing her by the hands of this dragon.

"It's a robot, isn't it?", Kidd asked further, taking another look at the dragon's spread wings. It had to be a robot, there was no other way.

"A robot? I expected you to say that.", Luccia said coolly. "Having been raised by the great inventor Lucca, I expected nothing else. However, I am not Lucca, and therefore, the dragon isn't a robot. Mechanics are hardly my field of expertise." A small superior smile began to form on Luccia's lips as she said this, taking in the look of disbelief on Kidd's face, and the increasing fear on Harle's.

"You're bloody lying! This ain't a Dragon God, and except of 'em, there are no dragons!", Kidd shouted angrily.

"Oh?", Luccia asked, feigning surprise. "You must know something I don't, then." She went over to the dragon and took out one of her throwing cards. Her cards were slightly larger than Harle's, and while this increased the attack range and ultimate width of the wound, she knew it was a disadvantage regarding environmental changes such as wind, or rain. The rain had just picked up again, but nobody seemed to notice, for their clothes were already wet from the rain shower earlier.

Luccia saw the others tightening their grip on their weapons as they saw her drawn card, but Luccia didn't mind. She walked the few steps which parted her from the dragon, and stopped beside his right paw. He growled as he saw her approach, but stayed in place as if bound by an invisible chain.

With a speed that seemed surprising for a scientist fairly unaccustomed to battling, she slashed through the scaly and leathery skin of the dragon, and caused a long red line to appear. The dragon roared in pain, but didn't lift his paw.

Luccia smiled at that, she had half expected the dragon to kill her on the spot. She still waited for the day he would. She held the card she had just slashed the dragon with in front of her face, and the moonlight highlighted the dark fluid that dropped from its edge. It was blood.

"Does a robot have blood, I wonder?", Luccia asked provocatively.

Clair had heard enough. She didn't understand much of what was going on, but she wasn't about to stand around, playing her little role of a support character in expected silence.

"Tell us, then! We don't have all night!", she shouted, startling Eve and Riddel, who stopped her uneven breathing and sniffling for a few seconds.

Luccia turned to look at Clair, a rather bored expression on her face. "A rude one, are you not?", she asked. "I told you, it is a dragon. Made from flesh and blood as you can see." She motioned for Jack to come to her, and he obeyed, his wicked smile still plastered on his face.

By the time he arrived at her side, Luccia had already taken a rather small box about the size of her palm out of one of her various pockets. At first the box seemed to be made from metal, but as Harle saw how little it reflected the moonlight and how rough its surface seemed to be, she knew it must be made from stone. She wondered what kind of thing would have to be stored in stone.

"Now, Harle.", Luccia almost hissed, and as she looked up from where her eyes had regarded the box, her eyes had changed. Her former calm facade had crumbled, and her eyes were filled with utter hatred and disgust. Harle knew it was aimed at herself, and shirked back unconsciously. Luccia seemed about to let go. Her eyes were mere slits, her lips curled up in a grimace of hatred. Harle should have known all along, yet she hadn't.

"I don't think you have any idea how much I would like to see you dead." Luccia spoke slowly, deliberately, seemingly enjoying every second of it.

She could see Harle stare back at her, her body motionless, while both Kidd and Clair looked all too eager to attack.

"But how to do that?", Luccia continued unimpressed. She then opened the box and even before it was fully opened Harle could see the light emanating from it. Calmly, Luccia took the contents out of the box.

It glowed strongly, in a tone too bright to be called crimson but too dark to be called pink. Luccia held it in one outstretched hand, for everyone to see. It was pulsating as if alive, contracting and relaxing in a steady rhythm, its glow like shockwaves radiating from its pulse. It was shaped like a heart.

"Wha…what's this?", Kidd asked, growing more and more annoyed at not knowing anything, but also having difficulties to hide her growing intimidation. Luccia seemed have one ace after another up her sleeve, and Kidd wasn't sure if she wanted to know how many there were left.

"Ze Blazing Heart…le cœur en feu…", Harle whispered, too entranced by the relic to tear her eyes from it.

Luccia's smile widened at that, impressed. But as she looked into the puzzled faces of the others, she knew she would have to explain. It mattered little. It was her task to keep them away for only a little longer, and if she could achieve this without too much unnecessary bloodshed, all the better. She knew they wouldn't dare to be the first to attack from the way things stood. They had been unable to beat the dragon or Jack so far, and they wouldn't be able to do so now, either.

"The Blazing Heart, one of the three ancient relics of life that are said to harbour unbelievable powers. Only two of them remain, for the Frozen Flame is no more. This...", she stretched her arm a little more towards them for emphasis, "holds the power to shape life." Luccia explained, seeing comprehension slowly fill her enemies' eyes. "The power to found life into the very shapes you imagine."

Everyone had gone silent, and Luccia took pleasure in regarding every awe-struck face but halted upon the sight of Riddel. She still stood, albeit weakly, with support of two women, but her face was so pale Luccia guessed she would faint soon. It didn't bother her, as long as she was awake by the time it mattered. After all, Riddel was the spectator she had so longed to have. Luccia would show her the full scale of her greatness, and have her regret the day she had ever turned her back on her.

"Now that we have all assembled here to learn this, it would be a waste not to have you attend to a little experiment.", Luccia spoke, taking a slim test-tube out of another pocket, presenting it to her audience. It was filled with blood.

"Now, you might think this is ordinary blood, but I beg to differ. This is the blood of a Dragon Goddess." Luccia laughed evilly as she said this, taking in the most expected shocked stares. They were so easily impressed.

"Bloody bitch!", Kidd roared, unable to contain herself any longer. The thought of what she might have done to Harle scared her. Her look eventually fell on Harle beside her. Harle's whole body trembled, and she regarded the back of her hand in shock and wonder. She finally moved her head upwards to regard Luccia, her mouth opening to speak but failing to do so. She hadn't realized what this sting on her hand meant, and now regretted it that she had been so foolish as to believe in insects or the like. The thought of someone having taken made her shiver, and she was afraid to think of what else they could have done to her.

"Now, now, it's not yet time to be upset, for nothing has happened yet. However, we are about to see the result of blending dragon blood with the depraved soul of this young man.", Luccia announced in a low voice, and upon regarding the still glowing relic in her hand, caused it to flicker and blaze as if oil had been added to its fire.

"Oh no you won't!", Kidd shouted and broke the group's lethargy as she dashed towards Luccia, intent to take the cursed relic from her. Her eyes fixed on the bright item in the scientist's hand, but failed to notice the dragon's eerily fast movements until his paw struck her in the stomach, causing her to fly backwards.

"Kidd!", Eve shouted, and in synchrony with Clair, prepared another attack. However, Jack blocked their way and with two powerful arms grabbed their wrists to hurl them backwards.

Now with both the dragon and Jack occupied, Harle took the chance and attacked Luccia, but to her own surprise her attacks were weak and empty of the will to win. She flung her cards aimlessly in the rough direction of Luccia, who had hardly trouble to dodge them. Harle could hear her egocentric laughter. She tried harder to concentrate and attack more seriously, but her limps hardly obeyed her command. She was weak.

Luccia looked at Harle with amusement. So her drug still worked, with was surprising considering the amount of time that had passed. It was an unexpected turn of events, even though she knew that it wouldn't last much longer. Once Harle found out how the drug worked, it would lose its effect even faster. It didn't bother Luccia, however.

"Give moi…ze relic.", Harle said as dangerously as she could, but knew her weak stance and confusion made it hardly believable.

Luccia raised her brow at this demand, and shifted her glance to Jack. "Take care of this for a while.", she said and threw the relic over the short distance to Jack, who caught it effortlessly. Without another word, he ran away, leaving Eve and Clair who were still lying on the ground to stare after him.

She absolutely wouldn't let this happen. Heedless of her unusually weak constitution, she brought her legs with relatively small effort to break into a run, and followed him. Kidd, who had just scrambled to her feet cursed at the sight, her eyes darting between the path to the castle and the route Harle and Jack had taken. The directions were complete opposites.

They had already lost so much time, and yet, Kidd had made a promise as well. She knew how scared Harle still was of Jack. Kidd had promised not to leave Harle alone again, promised not to let anyone hurt her again.

She shook her head. It wasn't the time to think but to act, and Kidd decided to run after Harle. As she passed Eve and Clair, she raised her arm behind her to point at the castle. "Hurry!", was all she managed to shout in the short time before she had vanished in the woods.

Eve only had the time to nod and as quickly as her new bruises allowed, got up to her feet and helped Clair do the same. However, as they were about to run, Luccia snapped her fingers once more and the dragon turned to face the women without protest.

"Kill them.", Luccia said coldly. She wouldn't have them get to the castle, not just yet. There was still some time left to fill, and while she knew that the dragon would probably be unable to kill them as she ordered, he would beat them down enough for them to have to crawl their way to the castle afterwards, if they so insisted.

The dragon snorted and grunted, and lifted his paw to strike Eve and Clair, who looked at their nemesis in fear. Clair closed her eyes, cursing her weakness. It was no use to even try to stand up against this thing. Her wooden rod was all but utterly useless against the thick skin of the dragon, it wouldn't even tickle him. As for Eve…her sword might be useful, but even then Clair knew this was no old fairy tale where knights with shining swords had still been able to fight the greatest of beasts all on their own. They just didn't have a chance, at all. They should have had better run away when they still had got the time. But it was too late now. They had lost. After all, they hadn't been able to do anything at all.

Clair reached for Eve's hand. If she were to die, she wanted it to be hand in hand with the one who meant the world to her. She wished she had had more time to talk to her, more time to enjoy with her. But wasn't it always like this?

Clair felt the hand beneath hers tremble, letting her know the dragon's paw was about to crush them. It would be quick, the dragon would be strong enough to kill them both with this one hit. They wouldn't have to suffer for long.

"No!" The voice that suddenly reached their ears instead of the anticipated sound of their own breaking bones sounded familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, being too loud and high-pitched for Clair to recognize immediately. She opened her eyes slowly, her vision blurry with sparkling dots from having shut her eyes too tightly. A few moments passed until she saw a slim form in front of them, and heard exhausted breathing. It was Riddel, standing in before them with outstretched arms that began to tremble with the effort of holding them up.

A few seconds more passed until Clair dared to look up to the dragon still towering above them, balancing his weight on his hind legs, his paw in midair as if time had stopped. He looked confused at the sudden turn of events.

Riddel didn't mind him as she turned her head to the side. "Run!", she hissed in a low voice, only for Clair and Eve to hear. "Hurry to the castle."

It was obvious what Riddel was planning, but Clair opened her mouth to protest. There was no way they could leave her alone with that dragon and this mad woman. However, before any words had the chance to leave her mouth, Eve tugged harshly at her hand as she broke into a run, forcing Clair to follow.

Clair didn't have the time to turn back and look at Riddel, trying to keep up with the pace Eve was setting. She couldn't hear any sounds behind her. No footsteps that indicated someone following them, no trample of the dragon. Nothing at all. She hoped Riddel was alright, because despite everything she might have said to her, she knew Riddel was just the victim of all this. They all were.

Back in the forest, Riddel panted, hating the feeling of sweat on her forehead, dreading to run into her eyes along with the rain she had finally noticed was falling. She had been exhausted by the time she had gotten here, but now exhausted was hardly enough to describe how she felt. Every inch of her body hurt and she could hardly stand on her own. She had clearly overdid it with a healing element that had drained her stamina almost completely. But then, she had had very little idea of what she was about to be confronted with, physically and emotionally.

'Nothing less from someone who sits in front of a window all day long.', she thought sarcastically, loathing the fact that she was so weak just because of a little running around and a twisted ankle. It was pathetic. She was getting dizzy too. Maybe she could blame it on the shock rather than her pitiful condition. At least this.

She looked up at the dragon, who by now had retreated its paw, seemingly awaiting new orders from Luccia, who was silent however. Riddel stared at her expressionless face as she weakly hobbled to a nearby tree to lean against. She finally reached one, letting out a sigh as she leaned her back against it. It felt good. Not quite as good as knowing to have finally done something useful for a change, but good nonetheless. Good for someone as weak and pathtic as herself.

"You are quite brave. Just minutes ago you screamed in fear of him.", Luccia remarked, moving to stand only two or three metres in front of Riddel. She shook her head in direction of the dragon, seeing that he had calmed down.

He had done a good enough job. At least twenty minutes must have passed, and for her to keep them away from the castle for such a long time without anyone getting seriously hurt was quite an achievement in itself. She was glad she had been able to lure them away, it had become hard to watch them. There were such a burden to look at and too noisy, getting far too upset about that little bluff of hers. They were so silly it was almost pitiable, if it weren't for them to be the last ones deserving pity.

"You wouldn't kill me, Luccia.", Riddel answered angrily, staring at the rain-soaked woman in front of her. What had gotten into her to do all this, how could she? But still, she was as much angry with herself than she was with Luccia.

Luccia smiled. She never tired of the way Riddel pronounced her name, caressing each letter in her own unique way even in anger. "You seem to be quite sure about that. Or is it rather that you do not care about living or dying anymore?"

Riddel returned the smile. "Why should I? Everyone keeps telling me my father is the biggest bastard on this planet, I have to depend on pirates and traitors, and in front of me is a person I thought I knew but don't recognize.", she answered and shrugged. "I was scared senseless by that pet of yours and I feel terrible on top of that." Riddel laughed at that, a rather hollow laugh that held no emotion. Luccia was surprised to hear her talk like this. She had expected to see the weak and depending girl she knew, but found a stronger person in front of her, a person who hadn't broken down in tears as she had expected her to, instead making wry jokes about her situation. It was…enticing.

"Where is my father, Luccia?", Riddel asked after a few moments of silence, her voice serious.

Luccia averted her eyes for a moment to look in direction of the castle, and as her eyes met Riddel's again, they had changed. They didn't exactly look sad, but they contained a hint of confusion Riddel found hard to look at.

"He is somewhere far away. Way beyond your reach. As am I.", Luccia answered and broke the eye contact for a few moments. "The soul, that is. His body you may find somewhere in the castle, hidden in the shadows."

"Don't say something like that, Luccia. You're right here, aren't you? Your soul too.", Riddel said with a gentleness Luccia found disturbing. It made her want to do things she had suppressed for too long to release again. She had turned her back to Riddel once, and it was too late to face her with the same openness again. She couldn't do it anymore. She wished Riddel would just stop being nice and start to think about the kind of person she really was. Was she still so naïve?

"No, it is not. But I am grateful for it. I would never have made it this far being the person I used to be. Doubts, regrets and a nagging conscience tend to hold you back too much to be able to do everything.", Luccia said, absent-mindedly putting away the cards she had been holding all the time. She wouldn't need them anymore. Riddel posed no threat to her, and she knew she would rather cut her wrists than use her cards against this woman. After all, it probably wasn't her fault for being so slow and naïve.

"What is 'everything'? Helping my father do whatever he does?", Riddel asked, her voice growing slightly weaker at the end. She was too tired to worry about falling unconscious now, but she knew it wouldn't be long.

Luccia grimaced at the accusation. As if it could be anyone's goal to support this man. "Your father is a very foolish man, Riddel.", she said, granting herself the pleasure of speaking that name. "Even though his plans have continuously been destroyed one by one, he refuses to give up."

"I know someone who is just like that.", Riddel said and a hint of a grin spread on her lips, but quickly vanished. Luccia was probably right about her father. She still didn't like to think about it. It was so unreal. She still remembered his strong yet gentle arms when he hugged her, his concern for her whatever she did. But she had also come to terms with what she was likely to find upon meeting her father.

"How…how many people are you planning to kill with this thing?", she asked after another pause. She tilted her head towards the dragon to emphasize.

Luccia frowned at this question, almost looking as if insulted. "You got me all wrong, Riddel." Again this name that had caused her so much pain. "I am not like _him_. My creation is not intended to kill but one person, nothing more. There are not that many people I would enjoy to see dead."

"You mean Harle, don't you?", Riddel asked. She had noticed the fierce looks Luccia had shot Harle, even though she didn't know of the history between them. "Can't you…let it go?" It was a silly question, but one Riddel found important to ask. She could see Luccia was angry, that she must have suppressed her hatred for Harle for quite some time, but still…she knew that she could never bear seeing Luccia do such a thing. And she was also afraid, because she knew that even something horrible like this would be unable to stop these feelings of her.

Riddel leaned her head back against the damp tree, her feet slipping on the muddy ground, almost making her fall. The rain had soaked the ground and everything else completely, and Riddel knew the temperatures had to be dropping despite her almost numb skin not recognizing this. As she looked up from her dirty shoes again, she saw that Luccia had gotten closer. Maybe she had stepped forward in case she was about to fall. The thought made her smile.

The tree she was leaning on smelled intense. Pure nature, so unlike the dry and dusty air in her rooms. Riddel suddenly felt like a runaway kid, enjoying the freedom of nature, even enjoying the cold rain on her feverish skin. The only difference was that she didn't have a home to return to once she got bored of being a rebel. There was nowhere to go but forward.

"This dragon.", Luccia said, interrupting Riddel's thoughts. "He has suffered for quite some time now, for Harle has escaped his claws so far." She shot an accusing glance at the dragon, for she knew the dragon didn't want to kill anyone, even though he was more than able to do so with little effort.

"The imperfections of his body hurt him every minute, every second he is awake." Luccia pointed at his wings, which were strengthened with metal. "Wouldn't it be terrible to have him suffer so much in vain? He was designed to kill her, bore so much pain to kill her. Should all this go to waste?", Luccia asked, her eyes boring into Riddel. "Isn't it far too late already?"

"Why do you let him suffer, then?", Riddel asked and looked at the dragon, but gasped as she saw an expression of gratefulness on his features.

"That was my fault, I have to admit. I didn't make him perfect, but I will on my next try. Once I created the perfect dragon, I will release him of his pain.", Luccia said in honesty. She was still angry with herself that her first dragon had turned out like this. The usage of the Blazing Heart was all about imagination. A soul was needed, and a creature of flesh and bone, but most of all, she needed to imagine. She should have pushed the images of her earlier failures out of her mind. This time, she would think of strong wings, not the ones she had used to try to create. It was silly how little control people had over their own minds sometimes.

"On your next try? Do you really want to create another monster like this?", Riddel asked, her voice considerably louder than before. The growl she received from the dragon made her gasp again, and she stared at him in disbelief. "Just what…is he?"

Luccia frowned at Riddel's outburst. A monster, she called it. How could she not appreciate a creation like this?

"He is the result of an intelligent soul and a strong body, melted together.", Luccia explained, but saw only confusion and shock written all over the other woman's face. "This is how this relic works. A soul and a body are like water and sand. Each of them alone cannot be shaped, they always stay the way they are. Bringing these two together is what the Blazing Heart does, fusing them together beyond separation."

"You…you're saying this dragon has a human soul?", Riddel asked in shock as this realization hit her. Her features stiffened, leaving no trace of the fatigue she had felt only seconds earlier.

Luccia smiled. Finally Riddel began to understand. "Yes, a human soul. The soul of a soldier, in fact. But you have to wonder about soldier these days, they are so emotional, feeling pity and mercy when they are supposed to fight. Look at him, does he look even remotely aggressive? No, he looks just like a pet. This soul was useless.", Luccia said while pointing at the dragon and laughed. At the sound of her laughter, the dragon looked almost frightened and Riddel had trouble to think clearly.

"How…how could you! How could you do something like this to a human?", she then shouted at Luccia, on the verge of tears. She was terrible, treating life as if it was her personal plaything. And yet, Riddel still couldn't despise her.

"How could I? Well, I needed one soul or the other to kill _that_ woman in a way she truly deserved to die. Ordinary means wouldn't have sufficed, for what she has done. I could have killed her many times, but not a single one would have satisfied me.", Luccia said, her voice growing louder. She knew she was getting angry and took a deep breath. There was no use in shouting, not to Riddel, for she would patiently listen either way. She didn't seem to be in any condition to escape.

"You should try to see it from another point of view. I granted him another life, and even though he might not like it, isn't it still better than death?", she asked, smiling unusually broadly. "This relic can save people's life, Riddel." She wasn't even lying, but she knew as well that the Blazing Heart would probably never be used with this intent. If it was to ever be used again. She doubted she would hold it in her hands again, she was sure Jack would mess it up one way or another. It wasn't her responsibility anymore, and she cared awfully little about what happened to this invaluable relic many people have sought over the decades. Riddel had already showed her well enough how little she cared for all this. She had lost, and as if it had been clear right from the start, Luccia had to fight the urge of laughing about this fact. At the very least she didn't have anything to lose anymore, now.

"Death?", Riddel asked in a whisper, and would have retreated a few steps if it hadn't been for the fact that she was leaning against a tree. "Do you mean that soldier…was dead?"

Upon that question, Luccia nodded eagerly. "Unfortunately so. They brought him to me to treat his wounds, but it had been too late at the time. He passed away soon after, and I decided to use him in this experiment."

Riddel's eyes went wide. Could she really believe such a thing? Such a fantastic story about life and death that even a child would have trouble believing. It was impossible, and yet the way the dragon looked at her…it was too hard not to think there was a human soul beneath this thick scaly skin.

"What…was his name?", Riddel asked and looked at the dragon, as if he would answer her instead of Luccia. "We should at least call him by his name."

Luccia raised her eyebrows at the question, once again impressed at Riddel's seemingly endless source of caring.

"I believe his name was…Heilel.", Luccia responded after a few moments of thinking.

"A strange name, Heilel.", Riddel whispered and was tempted to walk over to the dragon to touch him. She wasn't afraid of him anymore. She just felt pity for him.

Riddel closed her eyes for a few moments, feeling the need to shut it all out to think clearly for a moment, to sort all this information she has been given, and to deal with it. It was hard, and her tiredness threatened to gain the upper hand in her still ongoing struggle.

As she finally opened her eyes again, she saw Luccia still standing in the same place in front of her, her hair every bit as wet as before. She looked serious.

"About your next try…you want to use Jack's soul…and Harle's blood? That's not enough, is it?", she asked weakly, trying to keep her eyes open, even though it didn't make much of a difference, seeing how dark it was. But still, she had to see those eyes, _her_ eyes.

Luccia nodded in response, and her face lit up for a reason Riddel didn't understand. "Yes, there is still a body missing, but there are many strong beasts around, it wouldn't have taken me long to find a fitting one." There she went. She just couldn't give it up, this useless talk about science that mattered so little anymore.

Riddel grimaced at Luccia's offhand way to talk about this as if it was nothing. "You would have…taken his soul even though he wasn't dead?", she asked. She didn't approve of taking souls of dead people either, Luccia didn't care about what they wanted. But to take a soul from someone who was still alive…it seemed even more cruel. Taking away your body to replace it with a nightmare.

She continued to watch Luccia, waiting for a response, but she got none. Instead, Luccia's features showed clear disappointment. Riddel couldn't believe she was in this forest, like this, having this kind of conversation. It was almost too much for her.

"Stop this, Luccia.", Riddel finally said, feeling relieved at having spoken those three words at last. 'Stop this'. It was the only way left for them.

"Stop?", Luccia asked, stepping closer to Riddel.

"Yes, stop. With all of this. Stop working for my father, stop trying to kill Harle, and stop doing these experiments. Just…stop.", Riddel said, and couldn't suppress the tears that leaked from her eyes. She didn't wipe them away, Luccia wouldn't be able to tell them apart from raindrops at this distance anyway.

Luccia's expression crumbled at this request, but was quickly replaced by a look of fake amusement. "Do you realize what you are asking of me? You are asking me to give up my whole life at your request, everything I have worked on these last ten years." She laughed to emphasize the ridiculousness of all this, but soon couldn't bring herself to laugh anymore. Ten years. A whole third of her life, and this woman was asking her to throw it away? It was impossible. She knew she had given up already, but that didn't equal stopping all this in its entirety. She couldn't do this.

But still, looking at Riddel's pained expression made her want to do anything to make her smile again, but she knew it was not in her power to do so. She couldn't let herself be swayed, again. She doubted she would survive being betrayed a second time.

"I realize this. That's why I want you to stop. You can't go on like this.", Riddel said, forcing her voice to stay even and not waver under Luccia's gaze.

Luccia shook her head and walked towards Riddel, pinning her against the tree with both of her hands at the sides of her head, and their bodies almost touching. She saw Riddel tremble but didn't draw away.

"You're naïve, Riddel. You make it sound so easy. But I can't go back now. It is far too late for that.", Luccia said, her voice starting out harsh but softening as she noticed Riddel's tears.

"Why? Why is it too late?", Riddel sobbed unwillingly, her tiredness and despair catching up with her with full force.

Luccia resisted the urge to wipe away the other woman's tears. "If I don't obey your father, he will kill me. He expects me to create a whole army of those dragons." It was impossible, for the Blazing Heart could only be used for a total of three times, but Viper did not now that. Luccia had planned to escape him once she had created the perfect dragon, which was a plan she was unlikely to execute regarding the current circumstances. But Riddel did not need to know that. It would prove her point well enough.

Luccia could see Riddel's eyes widen, but continued. "Also, I made a promise to someone. I promised her to take revenge for her. I promised I would kill her murderer and the murderer of her family. I couldn't live with myself if I were to break that promise."

"A promise…to whom?", Riddel asked, surprised at Luccia's unusual sad tone. She wanted to know who it was who could make Luccia sound like this.

"She was my friend, and also my mentor. She taught me many things. But then this girl…Harle killed her and her children." Luccia didn't know why she was telling Riddel all this, but the words came too fast and too easily for Luccia to stop them.

"You never told me.", Riddel breathed, unable to say any more. She wanted to scold Luccia for not telling her such things, but she was also scared. She wasn't sure if she could bear knowing all of Luccia's secrets. She was afraid that at one point she would fall into a dark hole, and lose the ability to go back to how it was. She wondered if that was the natural price of knowing someone completely.

"I only knew you for a few days.", Luccia said truthfully. How regrettable. They had grown so close in such a short amount of time, but it had been destroyed so quickly. Luccia had often wondered if she had gone too far that day. Maybe she should have just accepted it, and had tried to be glad for Riddel, instead of wishing her loved one dead. But just as it had always been, she had let the ugly side of her win. The only side that was capable of winning, probably.

"I'm sorry.", Riddel whispered. Her tears had dried but threatened to come forth again. All these years, she hadn't had anything to do except of mourning the loss of Dario and saddening her friends, the other Devas, with her depression. All this time she should have just gone to Luccia. It hadn't been so much as two hundred metres that separated her room from Luccia's workplace. Yet she hadn't gone, out of childish pride she should have had long outgrown of, out of anxiety to be rejected, out of fear what she would find. And also, deep down she had known Luccia hated Dario. She hadn't wanted to admit it to herself, but she had known that Dario had been the reason Luccia had walked away from her. She knew the reason of it know. And she wished things wouldn't have happened the way they had. She wished she had been able to keep Luccia from doing the wrong things.

"It was my fault. But you know now that I can't do what you ask of me.", Luccia said with a hint of regret in her voice. She tried to draw away, but Riddel's trembling hands on her arms stopped her.

"You must." Riddel's voice was faint, pleading. Luccia tried to tear her eyes from her, but found that she couldn't.

"What would change if I gave everything up?", Luccia asked. What would she gain if she was to throw her old life away?

"Everything!", Riddel cried, but knew that it would only really change one thing. It would wash the feelings of guilt away, which were sure to consume her heart if Luccia continued like this. She would forever feel guilty about her feelings for someone who wanted to kill people, for someone who wasn't able to see the faint borders of morality anymore. It was a selfish request after all. "You are not like this, Luccia! You have to stop this! Please…" She lost her struggle against the tears yet again, and banged her head against the hard wood behind her in frustration.

Luccia knew her resolve was almost shattered, she knew that she couldn't deny Riddel's wishes. She knew it all, but it was still so hard to accept. She hadn't wanted for any things she had done to happen. She had just stubbornly chosen the wrong path, thinking it would turn out to be the right one if she just continued long enough. She had always hoped, even though after suppressing her feelings long enough to completely ignore them she hadn't even needed hope. Once you have gone too far, you don't need a reason to continue, because continuing is the only way that is left.

"What makes you think I would give up so much just for your sake?", she asked and watched Riddel's eyes open, a new resolve blended into the other emotions she could see there. She felt as if she had asked herself this question, for she hadn't yet been able to grasp its intangible answer. She knew she was destroying her last wall of defence with this.

With a firm tug that stemmed from a power that Riddel hadn't thought still existed in her body, she pulled Luccia to her, closing the small distance between them. She buried her head in Luccia's stiff collar of the black and white jacket she wore, not daring to look into her eyes.

"Because you love me.", she whispered, her breath hot on Luccia's cold and wet skin. She kept still and listened to Luccia's breathing which had quickened notably. She had nothing to lose, so why was she afraid? It couldn't get any worse than what she had been through until now.

After a few minutes which had passed ever so slowly, Riddel finally looked up to Luccia, finding a face torn with pain and desire. "It's true, isn't it?", she asked quietly, her face depicting her hopefulness. However, the answer she received wasn't a "yes", an affirmative grunt or even a nod. It was something Riddel had never imagined to happen.

Within the blink of an eye, Luccia had crushed Riddel's slim form between the tree and her own body. Riddel gasped but Luccia didn't falter, intertwining her fingers with Riddel's smaller ones as she pressed her lips onto Riddel's. She marvelled once again at the softness of the other woman's lips, was intoxicated by their slightly salty taste. She let the wave of desire wash over her without resistance, giving in to her wishes, shutting out the dark thoughts long enough to take pleasure in the moment. She didn't care if it was wrong, or what she was about to do ten seconds, ten minutes from now. She only knew that this was something she would never regret, unlike so many other actions she had done. She wouldn't look back onto this and wish it had never happened.

Luccia's force was overwhelming for Riddel's tired body, and it needed all the willpower she could summon to stay conscious at this impact of physical and emotional sensations. She wasn't about to complain, though. After all she had brought this upon herself. She had challenged Luccia. A smile crossed her lips.

The kiss they shared was passionate and Riddel enjoyed the feeling of Luccia's wet form pressed tightly against hers. She enjoyed it, recapturing Luccia's lips every time they threatened to move away. Their lips danced and struggled, playing a fierce game of tug-of-war that needed no winner.

It was so different from the few kisses she had shared with Dario. Their kisses had been chaste and shy. Innocent just like their short relationship had been. She didn't regret this relationship that had made her so happy back then, but she didn't regret it being like this now either. She was different now. And she loved it. Loved the untamed desire that needed no gentle words to be expressed, only the touching of burning lips and the strong hold of the one she desired. Whether it was wrong or not.

She felt Luccia's possessive hands in her wet hair, pressing it against her head while keeping it in place as if in preparation for the unlikely case of Riddel turning it away.

When they broke the kiss, Riddel's breath came out in steamy puffs, misting Luccia's glasses shortly each time before dissolving in the cool air. Luccia's hair was probably as ruffled as her own, her cheeks were flushed and her lips glittering as much as her eyes. She was beautiful. Riddel couldn't withstand the temptation and leaned in to kiss her again. This time however, the kiss broke unexpectedly soon as Luccia grabbed her shoulders and pushed her away from her.

"We can't.", Luccia breathed, hating herself for having let the dark thoughts back into her consciousness. Now it was too late to shut them out again.

Riddel, who had closed her eyes as she leaned her head against the tree behind her, opened them again with a smile that spoke volumes.

"We can…and we will.", she said, still out of breath. She was irrevocably lost in those eyes in front of her, and no matter what other people said, no matter what Luccia herself said, nothing would be able to change her feelings now. If she did something despicable by desiring this woman, then so be it. She didn't care.

"I'm sorry.", Luccia said as she cupped Riddel's flushed face with her trembling hands. "I…messed it up. Everything…" She gulped, as if suddenly realizing just what she had done. "I just…wanted you to look at me. That's why I did all this. I thought that maybe, if everyone would just recognize me for the scientist I am…you would too. I…wanted you back." After confessing this, Luccia couldn't bear to look at Riddel, for fear of the disgust she would find there.

To her surprise, instead of a gasp she heard a chuckle, and had to look up to make sure it really was Riddel in front of her. "One would think that, regarding our age, we would be wiser than this. But in reality we're worse off than kids. I guess that's because we missed ten years." Another laugh.

Riddel was shocked at herself for saying something like this and even laughing about it, but she knew it was her adrenaline high speaking, which had been the only thing that had kept her awake so far. Luccia simply stared at her in disbelief.

"How can you…laugh about this?", she asked, her voice unable to hide the spark of scepticism.

"I have no idea.", Riddel said, barely containing another laugh. "It's probably because I'm going to pass out in a few moments."

Despite knowing that, Luccia couldn't suppress a look of concern. She had no idea what to do once this happened.

"You changed me, Luccia. Ever since I first met you. I have had so much time to think over the past days, and I believe in you. It may be too late for Heilel, or Jack…but it may not be too late to stop the assassination of the queen. Your hands are not as stained as you think they are. Please use them to stop my father.", Riddel whispered, her voice losing its strength with every spoken word. She could see Luccia's inner struggle. She looked so helpless.

"You're so silly, Luccia. You changed me. Now please let me change you." She slowly lifted her right hand to stroke Luccia's cheek. She wanted to say so much more, wanted to do so much more, but she didn't find the strength. Her vision grew dark, and she couldn't say if it was due to her eyes closing or her brain refusing to work correctly. She didn't notice sagging into Luccia's arms as she passed out.

After a few moments of watching her in silence, she gathered Riddel up in her arms, and carried her over to where the dragon still stood calmly, his eyes watching her in a mixture of attentiveness and worry.

"Heilel.", she spoke slowly, her voice thick with guilt. "I promise to release you of your pain once this is over, but I have to ask you to do me a favour." She watched the dragon before her, for the first time looking at the real him, being fully aware of the human soul within him that understood her every word. For the first time treating him accordingly.

Heilel eyed her almost sceptically, and Luccia knew he was tempted to simply snort at her. But after a few moments of consideration, he spread out his left wing. He knew what she had been about to ask of him.

Luccia slowly walked under the shelter of his wing and carefully lay Riddel down onto the wet grass. She searched her pockets for some sort of healing element, but found none. As expected of a black innate. Black wasn't a colour of healing, it was the colour of destruction. Causing pain and suffering were all they were good for.

Instead of finding a useful element, her fingers touched the cold surface of the glass-tube containing the blood she had ordered Jack to take from Harle. She took it out of the pocket, and just the sight of it was disgusting and unbearable. Without another thought she crushed it in her palm, heedless of the blood covering her hand and the shards of glass piercing into her skin. She removed them one by one, then stepped out from under Heilel's wing into the rain. She turned to look at him.

"Thank you, Heilel.", she said, careful to call him by his name. It was the least she could do. "Please watch over her." She bowed before him, then turned to face the path that lay in front of her. The way to the castle wouldn't be long. She had to hurry.


	18. The queen who couldn't protect herself

Chapter 18 – The queen who couldn't protect herself

"We should go back!", Clair shouted as she ran after Eve, even though the castle's entrance was already in sight.

"She'll be fine. Now hurry!", Eve called back, tugging harder at Clair's hand, not thinking of the other girl's inferior condition. She heard her panting behind her, and knew she was doing her best.

They had run all the way with their drawn weapons in their hands, and upon reaching the huge entrance door of the castle, Eve was hardly surprised to see that the knights had readied their swords as well. There were only two of them though, and Eve wondered just how much trouble a skilled assassin would have to break through this frighteningly weak layer of defence.

"Halt!", one of them shouted in a deep and rough voice. "Who are you?" He eyed them sceptically, distrust evident in his eyes.

"There isn't much time to explain, but we'll have to ask you to let us through, for the queen is in grave danger.", Eve explained as calmly as she could. Surely they wouldn't let them pass so easily.

"Now that's a unique one.", the other knight said and chuckled sarcastically as he pointed his sword towards Eve.

Clair clicked her tongue in annoyance. Honestly, Eve could be so naïve sometimes. She stepped before Eve and held her rod diagonally in front of her, holding it firmly with both of her hands.

"Now guys, step aside or you'll regret it.", she said dangerously and heard Eve gasp behind her. Too naïve indeed.

The guard had barely enough time to smirk at that before one end of Clair's rod met his stomach and pushed him backwards while the other end knocked the sword out of the second guard's grasp which was soon accompanied by a high kick to the back of his head, which sent him tumbling down the flight of stairs in front of him. By the time he had reached its end, his companion had stood up again, swinging his sword high into the air in an amateurish attempt to strike it down onto her. Clair blocked the sword effortlessly with her rod which she held with both of her hands above her head. She then kicked him into his stomach and pushed him roughly against the wall behind him. The guard's head met the stone wall with more force than intended, and he passed out immediately.

Upon the sight of him sagging to the ground, Clair clicked her tongue again. He was useless now, so she quickly dashed down the stairs to get to the other guard, who was taller and bulkier than the now unconscious one, but at least he was still awake. Ignoring his grunts and his struggling, she managed to lift him to his feet despite the heavy armor and shoved him up the stairs towards Eve, who looked all but utterly dumbfounded.

"You take him.", Clair said and pushed the dizzy guard towards Eve, who began to understand the situation well enough to know what she was supposed to do. With her left arm she reached around his neck from behind, squeezing him closely against her, while her right hand held her sword close to his face. She nudged him to walk up the stairs and follow Clair, who had opened the heavy door by herself, stepping inside the castle. Eve and their hostage followed closely, Eve pressing the blade of her sword against the man's throat to silence him.

As expected, it didn't take long for them to be surrounded, but Clair simply smiled. At least their defence within the castle was acceptable.

"Who are you? What are you doing?", an especially brave-looking guard asked them, if only to buy time as the other soldiers drew a circle around the two women and their hostage.

Clair looked around, the smile not leaving her face. There were eight soldiers, and probably a lot more to come.

"Where's the queen?", she asked, drawing the looks that had previously been on Eve onto herself.

"Why would that interest you?", the same soldier asked warily.

"We need to see her, and you guys better not get in our way or your friend here will pay for it.", Clair answered, taking a look at each of the surrounding soldiers. Some of them looked frightened or concerned for their comrade, others seemed eager to attack, and some of them looked like they didn't care at all. Clair smirked. They wouldn't dare to attack.

"Now, where is she?", Clair repeated, looking at the leading soldier who had proved to be the most talkative one so far. His brows trembled at the question, and his eyes darted involuntarily to a door to his left, then back at their hostage.

"Thanks.", Clair said just as the soldier opened his mouth, probably to form an excuse or something similar, but was cut short by Clair's rod which swept him off his feet, just like it did his neighbour. Now with an open passage, Clair ran through it and headed for the door, followed by Eve who by now knew better than to hesitate or ask questions.

Upon reaching it, Clair immediately opened the door, but waited for Eve to go through it first. After Eve had passed, Clair turned to face the soldiers who came storming towards her. There were at least a dozen of them by now. However, instead of following Eve she ran towards them, knocking out the first two attackers with a sideways hit against their heads. She escaped the sword of another by a few inches in going down to her knee, before fending off another by hitting his chin from underneath. She then dealt quickly with the previous one with a high kick that brought down her heel right on the soldier's collarbone, which brought him down to his knees surprisingly quickly.

Now with four soldiers down in less than a minute, the other soldiers seemed to waver, obviously not knowing what to do. Which served Clair well, for she could already feel sweat forming on her forehead. Fighting was unlike harder for her when she had to be careful not to hurt anyone too heavily. After all, they weren't terrorists, and crippling her soldiers wouldn't give them much credibility in front of the queen.

While the remaining soldiers wavered, Clair turned on her heels and dashed for the still open door, which she closed and bolted behind her before facing the flight of stairs in front of her. It seemed to be a pretty high staircase, for she could still hear Eve somewhere above her. She hurried to catch up with her, taking two steps at once as she proceeded upwards. She eventually reached Eve, who shoved the taller soldier the last few steps upwards until they reached another door, the only door there was. Without even bothering to talk to their hostage, Clair opened the door and found herself in a small corridor that lead to another door. She was glad there was only one, for she wouldn't have had the nerve to make difficult decisions at a time like this.

They walked towards the door and Clair smiled as she saw how the soldier seemed to struggle more the closer they got.

She opened the door and despite not particularly expecting any resistance at this point, held her rod defensively in front of her. Better safe than sorry. However, she chuckled at her unnecessary precautions as she saw a woman sitting on her bed, alone and without any weapons whatsoever. At the sound of her door opening, she turned her head to regard her visitors, and seemed surprised to see a sweating knight in the grasp of a woman foreign to her, and another who accompanied her. She seemed surprised, but nothing more. Still, Clair had dealt with enough strange people lately, she wasn't concerned with their atypical behaviour anymore.

"Are you Queen Marle?", Clair asked, trying not to sound dangerous, even though this person in front of her didn't exactly seem like she would care.

"The same.", she answered and stood up, and Clair had to marvel at how this woman managed to look dignified even though she was wearing a plain nightgown, which seemed to unsettle their hostage, who tried to turn away regardless of the sword at his throat. "And who might you be?"

"The only people you can trust as of now.", Clair answered and shot Eve a look upon which Eve quickly released the man from her grasp, but bolted the door behind her nonetheless. She sighed at Clair's unnecessarily complicated explanation, but as she regarded the queen, who for all the world looked more amused than intimidated, she shrugged and let Clair handle this.

Clair shot a sideways glance to a rather fancy wall clock which resided above the monstrous bed of the queen. Only a little more than three hours until midnight. He would have to strike soon.

"I'll be blunt about this. Someone is out to kill you, and we have come to prevent this from happening.", Clair explained calmly, never fully taking her eyes off their hostage, who she deemed to be low enough to exploit their trust and attack them at any moment, even though he had yet to show any sign of anything other than bafflement. "You may not know us, but I ask you to trust us. I believe you are familiar with someone named Kidd?", she asked, taking her only chance at gaining a modicum of trust from the queen. After all, Kidd was their only connection, she was the reason she and Eve were here in the first place.

"Kidd?", the queen repeated, raising an eyebrow. "Yes, I do know her." Clair had the feeling that now that she had mentioned her name, the queen had become even more suspicious.

"She is the one who sent us here. She had other things to deal with, unfortunately.", Eve said quickly, growing more nervous the longer they talked like this.

The queen sighed at this and sat down on her bed. "She's in trouble again, isn't she? Honestly, that girl…", she said and couldn't suppress a small laugh.

"She will be fine. But for now, allow us to guard you.", Eve said earnestly, frowning at how stupid this sounded.

The queen nodded gravely. "Just one thing. If you are here to help me, why did you take a hostage? Not to mention that you probably didn't get here without having encountered resistance. What did you need a hostage for? If I may ask."

"You may not.", Clair answered sharply just as Eve was about to answer, looking sceptically at their hostage. Which was probably better that way, for Eve had no idea what she would have told her. She didn't know why they had done that herself.

If the queen was surprised at this response, she didn't show it. "Very well then."

Clair nodded, satisfied that things were at least going moderately smoothly, even though things would undoubtedly get messy soon. She looked around, inspecting the room. Despite being the Queen's chamber, it wasn't exactly large, and Clair knew that fighting off an assassin wouldn't exactly be easy in here. There was only one window in the room as well, opposite of the door. The fact that there was no clear escape route was unnerving, but at this point they didn't really have a choice. The queen's confidence in them seemed to be too thin to rely on in front of countless angry soldiers and Clair had little desire to battle her way down again. They just had to deal with being in a closed room there was little escaping from.

Loud banging at the door startled her out of her thoughts and she looked in direction of the door. The banging got louder, and Clair could hear a lot of voices shouting at each other. Clair knew it wouldn't take them long to break through the door.

"Tell them to stop.", Clair said more urgently than intended. She couldn't allow them to get inside this room, or everything would be over. "They have to leave."

Eve tried to mask her puzzled expression from the queen as she looked at her, even though she was getting uneasy about this.

The queen didn't respond to what was obviously an order and walked past her until she stood in front of the door which was still being under attack of the soldiers outside.

"I advise you all not to damage my door or I will have to cut your wages.", she spoke, her voice loud and clear. Only a few seconds passed until the banging subsided completely. "Please return to your posts and see to it that nobody gets inside the castle."

"B-but, my majesty!", one of the soldiers outside stuttered. "Is really everything fine?"

"Yes it is, please don't be concerned and do as I say.", the queen answered.

"As you wish. We are sorry to have disturbed you.", came a disappointed but still alerted response and soon they could hear the steps of retreating soldiers. Clair laid her head onto the door, listening for any sounds, but everything was quiet. As she turned to look at the queen she met an annoyed face.

"I would appreciate if you told me what all this is about, but I guess I won't get an answer. Am I right?", she asked and Eve winced at the angry tone of her voice.

Instead of answering directly, Clair stepped closer to the queen, who to her credit didn't move away. "Please lower your voice.", she whispered, again looking at their hostage, who was eyeing them with great interest, but appeared to have given up on doing anything to stop them. Still, his constant eyes on her were irritating.

"Why?", the queen asked, but obeyed and reduced her voice to a whisper.

Clair rolled her eyes. She couldn't believe how easygoing everyone was when the queen's life was in danger. "Because…", Clair started to explain, trying to think of a way to say it without revealing too much. Again she looked to her side, and again she found their hostage watching them, a hint of a smile on his face.

"Damn it.", Clair mumbled as she turned away from the queen and walked towards the knight. Before he had the chance to react, Clair had reached back and punched him directly into his face, producing a sickeningly cracking sound and a river of blood running from his nose as he toppled over and lost his consciousness even before he reached the ground.

"Clair!", Eve hissed, hardly trusting her eyes. "What are you doing?" She had trouble keeping her voice low.

But Clair just shrugged, too tense and stressed to give her an explanation or excuse. "I'm not taking any chances.", she said but knew that she was probably just being paranoid.

Eve knew Clair was just trying to be professional and express authority, but the thought of not knowing what was going on in her friend's mind made her uneasy.

"My, you certainly have a way with people.", Marle remarked sarcastically and sat down on the bed, acting as if nothing happened. And besides, there was nothing she could do other than obeying those strange women while preserving as much of her dignity as the circumstances allowed.

"Believe me, you will be thankful for it very soon.", Clair mumbled, not granting her the joy of being provoked. Instead she scanned the room once more, trying to think like someone who is about to kill the queen. Her eyes spotted a rather old-fashioned bow with matching arrows on one of the walls, and Clair wondered how she could have overseen it the first time.

"That yours?", she asked silently, but walked towards it and took it off the wall without receiving an answer. She gave it to the queen. "Don't let anyone take it, whatever happens."

Marle simply nodded, taking the nostalgic bow into her hands, running her fingers over the still smooth surface of the wood. Such a long time had passed since she had put this bow to use. Such a long time that if she didn't know better, she would think it had happened in a previous life. Maybe that was because she was the only one left, the only remainder of this adventurous time, aside from the friends she had made in other eras, who she had no hope of ever seeing again. It was impossible, it should have been impossible from the start.

She regarded the woman named Clair as she paced the room, deep in thought, and looked at the other woman who stood silently at the door, being the exact opposite of her friend. And she turned to regard one of her most loyal, if not necessarily most competent knight. The blood had stopped flowing out by now, leaving a drying red trail that ran from his nose across his right cheek until it reached the marble floor.

Clair stopped in the middle of the room, wondering why she was the one being nervous, if it wasn't even her life that was about to be threatened. She looked at Eve, who seemed worried but still possessed a certain level of calmness. She was too calm for Clair's comfort.

"Get away from the door.", Clair whispered, but still loud enough for Eve to hear it clearly. She didn't say anything in response and walked past her and over to the window.

"Not to the window.", Clair said, more hesitant that before. She knew she was wearing out Eve's patience she would have long lost already if she had been in her friend's place. And as Eve turned to look at her, she knew it was already too late.

"Just what is it, Clair?", Eve asked as she tried to hide the anger in her voice. Clair sighed, regarding her intently.

"Look, I just…", she started, but stopped dead as she saw a shadow on the glass pane behind Eve. She moved her mouth to speak, but no tone came out as Clair ran towards Eve, pushing her feet off the ground to cross the distance in midair. Her hands reached her shoulders and she pushed Eve to the side. Even before Eve reached the ground, the window pane shattered into a thousand pieces which pierced into Clair's arms as she tried to shield her face. The next thing she knew was a hit into her stomach that sent her flying across the room and crashing into the wall at its end. She tasted the metallic tang of blood on her tongue as she reached the ground at last.

She heard someone scream her name, but couldn't remember who it was the voice belonged to. Her vision was shaking, getting even more blurry when she tried to focus on something. She couldn't move very well either, as if the punch had paralyzed her entire body. She struggled to keep her eyes open, which became harder with every second. The ground beneath her vibrated, as if something very large and heavy was walking into her direction, but as she managed to move her head enough to look up, she could only make out a shape that resembled a human. How could someone of ordinary height and build be so heavy?

She didn't have the time to ponder on this, for a large and cold hand enclosed her neck, applying almost unbearable pressure as she was lifted off the ground. She cried out but achieved nothing to lessen the pain and the dreaded feeling of suffocation. The face that appeared before her as she opened her eyes was unfamiliar, and Clair could only make out the most prominent characteristics. She couldn't see all that much of her attacker's face, for most of it was covered by what seemed to be a red scarf. She could however see the high blond hair and the pale skin. No, it wasn't pale. It was blue.

It was getting harder and harder to breathe, and Clair had already given up on struggling, for it only increased the painful lack of air in her lungs. Her eyes darted around but she could make out nothing aside from this one face in front of her. Time seemed to stand still, if it weren't for the increasing pain in her chest.

This just wasn't her day. She had been the most careful one of them all, so why her? Because she had tried to protect Eve. But what now? She was powerless, and she wondered if it would have been better had the attacker gotten Eve instead of her. That way she would have at least been able to do something. But now there was nothing she could do. She cursed inwardly. Wasn't the queen supposed to be the target? So how came she was in this mortifying grasp right now? Clair thought about all this as what seemed like endless minutes trickled by. She hadn't known she would receive an answer to her questions so soon.

"Are-you-the-queen?", the attacker asked, his voice mechanical and monotone.

Clair would have laughed if it hadn't been for her lack of air, but she settled for a twisted smile. This was almost too absurd to take seriously. She had no idea if he was making fun of her because she had practically sacrificed herself, or if he really didn't know. Neither of those options seemed plausible enough to be real. She, the queen? What kind of queen would be wearing a ragged military uniform? But then, she had to admit that the queen dressed in her rather plain nightgown didn't exactly look like nobility either. Which didn't make this situation less ridiculous.

It seemed to her that at least ten seconds had passed before she parted her lips to speak. "Yes."

She heard someone scream as these words left her mouth, and heard the sound of metal being pierced through someone. She couldn't make out what it was, she couldn't even tell if she was the one being pierced through at this point.

Everything she could feel was focused on the grip around her neck tightening. Clair felt like drowning again, trying to ignore this cruel feeling of dying from the sheer lack of oxygen. She felt like crying, but uttering even the faintest of sounds was impossible by now. To her, it lasted another two minutes until her vision finally went dark.

* * *

"Wait!", Kidd called for what seemed like the hundredth time. She had stopped on hoping to receive a response and was beginning to think that it would be better if she just shut up. 

They were somewhere too deep in the woods for her to have any hope of telling exactly where that was. She had never been so deep inside this forest, only ever taking the relatively short and straight path that lead to the castle. Ever since getting lost in there once, she hadn't had any desire to venture any further than this one path. She regretted it now.

She had chased after Harle ever since Jack had run away from them, but it was getting harder and harder to keep sight of Harle in this darkness. She didn't see Jack, but she had given up on that more than ten minutes ago, and was glad that she had at least been able to follow Harle so far.

Still, she wished Harle would stop running like that, it almost made it seem as if she was running from her instead of chasing Jack. And also, she was concerned that Jack hat set up a trap somewhere, which Harle was sure to miss in her agitated state.

She caught a flicker of Harle's cards as she passed through a moonlit spot, and Kidd forced herself to move her legs even faster to catch up. All of this was going wrong in so many ways. They should be at the castle right in that moment, protecting Marle from an assassin, but instead they chased after Jack, who carried the relic Kidd wouldn't have expected Luccia to simply hand over to another person, even if this person was under her control.

The relic. Kidd wondered if everything Luccia had told them was true. It seemed hard to believe, even though she didn't doubt the Blazing Heart to hold special powers. She had seen it glow and flicker, and it had seemed in the same strange way alive as the Frozen Flame had. But how came she had never heard anything of it? She had only ever heard fantastic stories about the Frozen Flame, but never of the Blazing Heart, let alone even a third one, which Luccia had mentioned.

Kidd's foot met a large root and she stumbled over the ground for a few metres before she could catch herself and continue running. She looked for a trail of Harle when a sudden realization hit her. How did the captain know about the Blazing Heart? And if he had known how dangerous it was, why had he sent them to steal it for him? It was such an unpleasant thought that Kidd immediately banished it, trying to focus on the things right in front of her. Due to her stumbling, she had lost sight of Harle, and had little idea on where to turn now. Her feet continued running straight ahead, but she soon reached a dead end that was so thick with trees and bushes that she couldn't imagine Jack or Harle having passed through there. She stopped running, feeling her heart pound in her chest as she looked around. She cursed the darkness, there was no way she could see any of the footprints she knew had to be recorded in the wet ground beneath her. It was useless trying to see.

She allowed herself to close her eyes for a few moments, trying to listen for any rustles or pants nearby. She couldn't hear a thing and was tempted to call out for Harle again when she heard a scream. It was her.

Without a moment's hesitation she turned in the direction the scream had come from and broke into a run. She ignored the branches that slapped into her face as the forest got thicker, running almost blindly towards the one she had sworn to protect.

As she finally reached a clearing, she let out a breath of relief as she saw Harle standing at its centre. It was a relief to see her still standing, even though she clutched her left shoulder. Kidd walked towards her, but stopped abruptly as a throwing knife reached the ground, missing her right foot by less than an inch.

"Shouldn't you stay out of this?", Jack asked in an amused voice, but Kidd couldn't see where he was. As she looked up from the knife before her feet, she caught Harle staring at her. She hadn't noticed Kidd before.

"Like hell I will.", Kidd shouted angrily into the vague direction where Jack's voice had come from, swiftly pulling the knife out of the ground. She held it in her left hand, the right one already occupied with her dagger.

Again she looked at Harle, tempted to just run over to her. But she realized that Jack didn't want her near Harle, and as long as she didn't know where he was, she couldn't afford not to be cautious. She wouldn't be any help to Harle if she got killed because of carelessness.

"Just…hold out a little longer.", she spoke soothingly to Harle, who seemed unreasonably devastated at her arrival, for reasons Kidd didn't understand.

"How noble.", Jack spat, and again Kidd turned her head to search for him, in vain.

Kidd tried to ignore the evident hatred in Jack's voice, and rummaged in one of her pockets, until she found the Heal element she was looking for. She placed it into her left hand and enclosed it tightly, while shielding it with her right hand. No doubt Jack was going to attack the moment he noticed her casting an element on Harle.

She cast it, trying to suppress the light in her hand as much as possible. She watched as the element reached Harle, surrounding her in green light that only lasted a few moments until it vanished. Harle gasped at the unexpected light unwillingly, but calmed as soon as she realized it was a healing element from Kidd. It lessened the pain in her shoulder noticeably, and Harle hoped that she would be able to use her left arm again. Her arms still felt weak, but Harle was grateful that at least her legs worked properly. She was sure that once she had bought herself some time, her arms would be fine.

But now that Kidd was here…it changed everything. She had to be careful, her actions now deciding over the fate of not only her own, but also Kidd's life. She had hoped that Kidd would use the chance and go to the castle. She should have known better.

From the corner of her eye she saw another of Jack's knives, again aiming for Kidd. It was unnerving that he didn't see her as the target anymore, instead dragging Kidd into this, who had hardly anything to do with this. He just wanted her, so why didn't he leave Kidd alone?

Harle threw one of her cards at the knife, and succeeded in hitting it at its blunt end, which diverted its route and caused it to fly past Kidd, hitting a tree shortly after.

Harle smiled at her achievement. Her cards were useless in defending herself from direct attacks, but they were still useful when hitting the knives from the side. It was a small consolation still.

She needed to get hold of at least one of his knives, to beat him with his own weapons. She knew Kidd had one, but she could hardly ask her to toss it over to her, for Jack was sure to intercept it. There was only one chance.

"Stop aiming for her, Jack. It'z juzt toi et moi, non?", Harle shouted into the darkness, even though she had the dreaded feeling that Jack would be able to hear her even if she whispered.

As if on cue, a throwing knife flew directly towards her at high speed, threatening to pierce her left eye. It flew parallel to the ground, which could only mean that Jack was standing somewhere right in front of her, not up in the trees as she had previously suspected.

Without thinking Harle pushed her feet off the ground and leapt backwards, her body coming parallel to the ground as well. Her eyes gleamed as she saw the knife pass directly above her face. Her timing was perfect. Her left hand shot upwards to grab the knife as her right hand met the ground and pushed her upwards to complete the backflip with the momentum she had left.

She winced as the knife cut into her hand as if trying to struggle free from her grasp, but upon reaching the ground with her feet, she immediately launched five cards into Jack's direction. She heard a loud gasp shortly after, and wondered just where she had hit him.

"Not bad, Harle. Not bad at all.", she heard him say in a voice she knew was forced to sound calm, and thought to see the outlines of his body not too far from her. "But this is still not the right place, I fear."

Harle frowned. Not the right place? Was he about to run away? Her grip around the throwing knife she had gained tightened.

"Follow me, Harle.", he said, and Harle could hear quick footsteps in an increasing distance. She shot a glance at Kidd and nodded at her, then dashed after Jack. Kidd followed her, even though she knew she wouldn't be able to do much other than making sure nothing happened to Harle.

Jack didn't run particularly fast, and both Harle and Kidd had no trouble to follow him. Harle thought about catching up to him, but decided against it. It was too dangerous, and Jack obviously knew this forest better than they did. She didn't want him to have advantages because of that.

It wasn't before long that Harle could hear the sound of waves. The ocean. She couldn't believe they had gone that far. But only a few minutes later when they reached a plateau, she could see it with her own eyes. Harle was startled to see that they were high above the ocean, a hundred metres at least. The cliff had to be quite steep. She didn't want to think about falling down or being thrown down there.

She could see a lot of other things now, for the full moon lit the whole place, which was almost a perfect circle, quite well. She now clearly saw Jack even though he was wearing black clothes, and also saw that there was no rock or trunk of reasonable size to use or hide behind. As Jack heard them approach, he turned around.

"Very well, Harle. Now that you seem to be fighting seriously, I'm willing to grant you a fair chance to win.", Jack declared and laughed, and Harle didn't have to look twice to see the ugly wound across his left eye. It had been a direct hit. Jack probably had to concentrate on keeping it shut to avoid blood running into his eye. It would be a disadvantage, which was probably why he had led them here, for his apparent advantage of superior sight in the dark was gone, so he might as well show it off as generosity in a vain attempt to intimidate them.

"Merci beaucoup.", Harle responded not without a slight tone of amusement. She didn't need to be afraid of him. Not anymore. She heard Kidd move behind her, coming to stand right beside her.

"Ya know, ya could also just turn over that relic and we'd leave ya alone.", Kidd said, a lot calmer now that she could see him clearly and with nowhere to hide.

"You miss the point completely.", Jack answered and smiled as if pitying her. "As always. You know, I could throw the relic right into the ocean, just like that.", he added, making a wrist movement as if tossing something away. "I wouldn't care."

"Why don't ya do it, then?", Kidd asked warily. She wondered just how much of him stood under Luccia's influence. Surely it wasn't her goal to lose the relic.

"That wouldn't be any fun, now would it?", Jack asked and laughed darkly. They lacked the will to kill him without the Blazing Heart. He had to force them to fight them properly.

"What 'bout Luccia? Doesn't she care about what happens ta the relic?", Kidd asked unnerved, halting her breath as Jack laughed even harder.

"Of course she does. If you mean that small spark of importance in her life that she wouldn't even call caring rather than need.", he replied. "But I don't care, and she'll regret having given this to me. If she'll even live to notice its loss." Jack spat the last few words. He armed both of his hands with five knives each as if to shorten their conversation quickly.

Harle frowned at the sight, forced to revise her opinions about both Jack and Luccia. She asked herself just how much of him was intended to be that way. To make sure, she asked one more question, knowing that upon receiving the answer she would decide to either attack him with full force or simply disarm him. The latter seemed frighteningly unlikely to her.

"Moi assumez you are not on her side, zen?", she asked, trying to sound as if she wouldn't care about the answer either way.

As expected, Jack snorted at that. "I'm on no one's side. Did you think I would willingly let myself be turned into a monster? She made a mistake giving me power, hoping I would be on her side out of gratefulness or because I wanted to be as strong as a dragon or any of her pets. That woman has no sense of people, always thinking they are as crazy as her, not being satisfied until they were superior to every human on earth. As she saw that I wasn't like that she dulled me with her drugs to obey her, but they don't last forever. The next time we meet will be the last. I'll do humanity a favour and get her out of the way." He smiled at that, as if he truly believed in what he had just said.

"Our goalz are similar, but our méthodes are so very diferente.", Harle said calmly, arming her own hand with five cards while leaving her left with only the knife.

At the sight of Harle preparing herself, Kidd did the same, but was quickly stopped by the way Harle looked at her.

"Let moi do zis, pleaze.", Harle whispered and Kidd nodded in grim understanding. She didn't like the thought, but she had anticipated Harle to say that. And if Harle said she could do it, she would. No doubt about it. This wasn't just a fight of life and death, this was a fight of pride. And this pride Harle had lost at the manor could only be regained when she beat him on her own. Kidd knew that Harle wouldn't lose to the same man twice. She wouldn't allow herself to.

Still, Kidd watched Jack and decided not to let her guard down. His self-proclaimed fair fight could turn out pretty nasty pretty soon.

Jack and Harle both threw their respective weapons at the same time, and the sound that erupted as the knife tore through the card was like a bell tolling to announce the start of the battle.

Harle dodged the knife that hadn't been disturbed by the card in the least with ease, not even lifting her left hand to block it. It was easy enough with one knife, but she knew that the moment he started to use more, she wouldn't stand a chance. She couldn't rely on her defence all the time. Rather, she had to exploit Jack's weakness in defence, for he was only set out for attacking. It was the only chance she had.

His next attack came sooner than Harle had expected, again just a single knife, which she avoided by sidestepping before she dashed towards Jack. Close combat was the only chance she had. As expected, Jack was startled by her quick approach and unleashed three of his knives into Harle's direction. Harle smiled. So he still hadn't learned to use more than three knives at once. Harle blocked the first one with her knife and dove under the following two, approaching Jack until they were hardly two metres apart. She then threw her whole hand of cards in direction of his face, for the thick fabric of his dark coat would surely repel them. His head was his sole weak spot. Just in the second Jack's eyes turned away from her to face the cards, Harle made a flying dive to the right and for a vital moment escaped Jack's limited field of vision. She tossed another card right at his left hand before leaping into the air to hit the back of his head in a roundhouse kick which sent him stumbling forward.

Harle reached the ground at the same time Jack turned around, and Harle leapt towards him and punched him into his face with all her might, hitting the already cut area around his left eye. She was about to punch him again when his strong hands gripped hers, keeping them in place without effort, even though his left hand was bleeding profusely where Harle's card had struck it shortly before. Before Harle got the chance to react she already felt Jack's foot in her stomach and soon after flew backwards several metres and crashed onto the ground painfully. She managed to stand up again quickly, but saw that she was dangerously close to the edge, and Jack came running towards her. There was hardly time to escape to the sides and she doubted that she would be quick enough anyway, so she decided upon the only action left.

She saw Jack's arm reach back in an angle that could only mean that he intended to punch her right into her face. Harle anticipated this and stepped to the side while turning her back to him, clutching Jack's outstretched arm with both of her hands. Jack had enough momentum so Harle simply tugged at his arm and threw him over her shoulder in a clean two arm shoulder throw with the only exception that she didn't let go of his arm.

Jack flew in a half circle over the edge and his back crashed against the cliff, causing him to cry out in pain. He looked upwards and saw Harle's face hovering above him. Harle lay on the ground at the edge, her right hand at Jack's wrist to keep him from falling. To his surprise, Harle smiled.

"You lozt.", she said and her smile widened. "Do you accept your defeat?"

Jack laughed at that, a dark laugh that was devoid of any genuine mirth. "Is that what you call a defeat, Harle?"

Harle's smile vanished at this unexpected response. She had hoped Jack would come to his senses, but he was still the same. "Oui, certainement. It'z over, Jack." Harle was aware that her voice sounded pleading, but she couldn't help it. If there was still a spark of his old self within this Jack in front of her, then she couldn't let go.

"Nothing's over, Harle. I'll teach you a thing or two about a defeat, the next time we meet." His words were suddenly calm, and would have sounded almost gentle if it hadn't been for the smile that suddenly crossed his lips.

Before Harle could realize what was going on she felt a sudden pain in her hand and upon looking at it saw a thick line of blood covering it. With dread in her eyes she saw her own hand loosening its grip on Jack's wrist against her will, even though she screamed in her mind not to. By the time her other hand rushed forward she could also see Jack's content face below her, growing smaller and smaller with every second.

"Jack!", she heard herself scream suddenly. This wasn't what should have happened. Jack should be up there, with her, but he was falling so quickly, Harle soon couldn't see him anymore. She stared after him for a second or two more, then moved her head to look away. It wasn't her fault, it wasn't. She gasped as she saw a small spark of light from the corner of her eye, but by the time she looked down again, it had vanished. She continued to stare for a few moments longer, but soon gave it up. She slowly stood up, turning to face Kidd who came running towards her.

It wasn't her fault, for once.

* * *

"Bastard.", Eve panted, wiping the trail of blood from her mouth. The sword in her hand wavered slightly, the colour of the blade changing with the angle. Standing was already getting difficult. She had to get rid of him soon. She didn't have that many possibilities. 

She nervously looked behind her. Clair lay on the ground, and Marle knelt beside her. Clair still didn't move.

She had pierced her sword right through him, but he hadn't let go of Clair until Eve had drawn it out and attempted the same again. Eve had wanted to cry at the sight of Clair's pale and motionless face, had wanted to cry at her own inability to act sooner. In her rage she had fought the assassin with all she had, but he hadn't gone down. He still stood in front of her even after taking so many attacks from her which he hadn't even bothered to block most of the time, his face unreadable. He couldn't be human. The spot in his stomach which she knew had its equal on his back was red and blood streamed from it, but he didn't seem to recognize this. He stood before her, his right fist lifted to the height of his head, while his left hand flexed strangely beside his body. He was about to attack.

Eve tried to think of the best action to take. There was no way he was getting past her, but the distance of a mere two metres between them didn't leave much room for excessive attacks. She had to settle for something simple.

"Get-out-of-the-way. You-are-not-the-queen.", he said in his cold and monotone voice and Eve had to suppress the rush of anger that came over her. She would shut him up for good. He was going to pay for what he had done to Clair.

"Sorry, you'll have to get past me first.", Eve spoke through gritted teeth, trying to gain a few more seconds to think, but saw that the assassin wasn't in for any more talk, for he came walking towards her.

There was no other choice but to use it. She might get herself in danger due to the close proximity, but her sword would be able to deal enough damage. If any at all.

"ElectroBolt!", she shouted as she clutched the element she had taken out of her pocket only split seconds earlier. It glowed brightly and just as the assassin reached back a lightning bolt seemed to escape from Eve's hands and hit the man in front of her, hurling him backwards and out of the window behind him. Eve herself was pushed backwards but quickly regained her footing and stormed towards the window, expecting to see him crashing to the ground. However, as she looked down she found nothing. Instead, she saw flakes of what seemed like small wet clumps of dust before her eyes and heard strange sounds above her. As she turned her head to look for their source, she froze. It was the assassin, crawling up the wall above her, his feet pushing him upwards with such force that it caused the stones to crumble slightly. He didn't look at her, and Eve took the chance to turn around to look at Marle.

"Take care of her!", was all she managed to say before she swung herself out of the window, gripping the edges of the square stones for support. They were slippery from the rain and she wondered how he could manage to climb up the whole wall without slipping. However, her features brightened slightly as she reached the even roof shortly after the assassin.

"Don't think you can escape me now!", Eve shouted, but stopped dead as she spotted another person on the roof, clad in black leather that glittered from the still ongoing rain. It was Viper.

"I see you are rather serious about protecting the dear queen.", he said in amusement as he watched the assassin coming to stand in front of him, making it impossible for her to attack Viper first.

"I see _you_ are rather serious about killing her.", Eve responded, mostly because she could hardly think of anything better to say. As if things hadn't looked bad enough already. There was no way she could take on both of them in a state that hardly allowed her to beat one. "Why is that?"

Viper chuckled at this question as if the answer was obvious. "I always wanted to live in a castle. So spacious." He laughed again.

"Tell me the real reason.", Eve said, not in a mood to be joked with. Buying time through talking also seemed to be her forte.

"The real reason you say. Power would be the most direct answer. Directly followed by doing humanity a favour in granting everyone equality." Viper's voice was serious and devoid of mockery, but Eve still had trouble to believe him.

"A favour? What kind of equality are you speaking of if it involves killing people such as the queen?", she shouted angrily. He couldn't be serious. No one could actually believe something like that.

"It is a sad fact that no changes can be made without sacrifices. But I don't expect you to know how those things work.", Viper said condescendingly.

"Power, you say. But it's really money you want, isn't it?", Eve asked, changing the topic. She had trouble thinking of anything to say that wouldn't make him unnecessarily angry and would just result in her death. However, she didn't know what kind of help she was expecting in her situation. Surely Clair wasn't the one who would save her this time. Her heart sank at the thought of her friend. Eve hoped she was alright.

"Money!", Viper shouted and erupted into laughter, startling Eve out of her thoughts. "I wish you had any idea on how much money I have already invested into this...reformation. I already paid a horrendous sum just to have that woman out of my way. Which obviously hasn't happened yet." He shot a glare at the assassin at this last sentence. "There's not much time left for you, so I advise you to hurry up."

The man in front of Viper recognized this as an order and started to move out of his lethargy he had been in for the last few minutes. Eve knew there wasn't much she could do.

* * *

It had taken her long enough to reach the castle, probably much longer than she was aware of. She finally saw the long flight of stairs and felt a strange mixture of relief and tension at the sight of it. 

She had no idea what she was doing here, walking up to the castle, about to mess with Viper's business like she had never before, getting herself into more trouble than she had to. She was probably too late anyway, but yet she continued. She didn't know if she was trying to stop the assassination to keep her father's hands from getting even more stained, or if she just wanted to do it to make herself feel better. It was pathetic, and she knew it.

Luccia walked up to two men who stood in front of the large and almost pretentious door that led to the interior of the castle. She regarded the guards, trying to make sure. She recognized the faces.

"Lead me to Viper.", was all she said, and the guards nodded and opened the door for her. It was eerily silent inside the castle, and Luccia suspected that they had already gone through with their plan for the most part, for the few soldiers who were standing in the hall didn't so much as look at her, knowing that she was with Viper. She had to admit that this time his plan wasn't full of errors and miscalculations, and she almost doubted that her interference would change anything.

The two soldiers Luccia knew were some of Viper's most trusted men lead her through a door and up a long staircase that was a little too long for Luccia's comfort. After another door at the stair's head, the soldiers brought her to a much better decorated, if strangely damaged door that Luccia knew would lead her to the queen's room.

"That would be all.", she said in a tone that bordered on ungratefulness and waited until the soldiers had disappeared through the same door they had just come through. Her fingers ran along the damaged and partly splintered wood of the door, as if people had rammed something against it.

Upon opening the door she heard a gasp and immediately found two eyes staring at her in what Luccia guessed was partly misery and partly anger. She leaned over another woman and Luccia immediately recognized her. She didn't look good.

"Is she dead?", she asked simply, trying not to sound too worried. She had nothing to do with this woman after all, even though she knew Riddel had, to some extend.

The woman Luccia knew had to be the queen looked at her as if suddenly remembering the woman on the floor next to her knees. She leaned down above her face and listened for any hints of breathing at all. As she looked up at Luccia again her voice wavered and sounded unsure. "She lives…I think."

The look on her face was helpless and she looked close to tears, and Luccia had to try hard not to grimace. Such a useless woman after all. She walked closer to them, ignoring the doubtful look the queen gave her. She took Clair's wrist and felt for pulse. She didn't expect one, and every attempt to revive her would have been in vain regarding the time that must have passed already. However, the small movement beneath her fingertips told her that she wasn't dead. At least not yet.

Luccia stood up again, looking at the door. It wasn't bolted, probably because the queen had run out of the room for help, but upon finding none in close proximity, had retreated to her room. She slid the bolt across the door.

"You shouldn't leave this room.", was all Luccia said before her eyes fell on the broken glass lying in front of the now shattered window. She looked at the queen questioningly, but decided not to ask. She then heard voices and the sound of metal clashing against each other. It was an irritable sound.

She walked closer to the window and the sounds intensified. Luccia sighed in annoyance. She could imagine what was happening up there, and she wasn't sure if she wanted to take any part in it. But another look at the queen nudged her consciousness towards the more dangerous option. Another sigh escaped her lips as she leaned out of the window, trying to make out the edges of the stones in the darkness. She hated climbing, but at least she would end this. For better or worse.

She made her way up slowly, being fully aware that she was by far no trained fighter, much less a climber. However, she reached the top with moderate effort but as she reached it she also knew that she had underestimated Viper. Vastly.

She had expected an ordinary assassin, someone who knew what he was doing, unlike the amateurs he liked to call his soldiers. Still, she hadn't expected him to go this far. The woman Luccia knew to be one of Riddel's acquaintances didn't fight against just any assassin. Even in this darkness Luccia could see that she fought against Grobyc, and Luccia knew it was safe to say that her chances of winning were slim at best.

As expected she saw Viper standing at a safe distance, watching them fight with obvious satisfaction. As she met his eyes, she knew he had spotted her sooner than she had.

"Why, what a surprise to see you here, Luccia.", he said and smiled disgustingly. "I was wondering where you were, seeing as how certain people arrived sooner than you did." It was unbelievable how he could still smile like that, how he could still make fun of everyone like that. Not a single trace of the slightest worry on his face, it was almost remarkable. But maybe he was just too far out to care anymore. Luccia had the feeling that he would rather die than give up at this point.

"My apologies for not having come sooner. For not stopping you sooner.", she said calmly, taking out her cards. It had been quite some time since she had last used them in a real battle, but she was sure that Viper was just as rusty as she was. It made no difference.

"I see you are finally honest with me, what a pleasant surprise.", Viper remarked as he saw Luccia's cards, and unsheathed his sword.

"Do you know the definition of this word?", Luccia asked darkly, quickly glancing over to where Grobyc was fighting. She should have expected him, but even if she had, it would have been unlikely to find someone who could stand up to him. The girl fighting him seemed about to collapse. She had to hurry with Viper, even she couldn't take on both of them.

She unleashed three cards at Viper, more to test his reactions than actually trying to hurt him on her first try. As expected, he destroyed all three of them in a single slash. Three cards were still not enough.

"I would think I know it quite well, Luccia.", Viper answered, speaking her name with surprising disappointment. "After all, haven't I been honest to you all the time? Don't you know everything about my plans and schedules even though I have known all along that you were lying to me?" He came towards her, his steps slow and almost hesitant. "Didn't I tell you anything, hoping that you would finally come to understand my plans to be the best solution?"

Luccia was taken aback by what he was saying, and couldn't avoid it to show on her face for a second. He was right. She knew a lot about what he had been doing all this time. She had known that his soldiers had been infiltrating the castle for the last few months, under the cover of being one of the queen's new soldiers. She had also known about the assassination. She knew the very details of his seizure of power, and they hadn't been lies, for they were happening right in front of her eyes in this moment. He was right after all, in saying that she had ever been the only one to deceive him like this. She almost felt guilty.

"There is no need to talk to me like that, Viper. I have come to stop you, and your words will change nothing.", Luccia said, her voice not wavering in the least.

"Such resolution. I wonder who did that to you, making you give up everything you worked for. You know that you can't go on as a scientist without me. There is nobody else but me who would let you do your mad little experiments. Is my death worth that much?", he asked, smiling wickedly. "You are nothing without me."

Luccia stared at him. He liked that sentence, repeating it over and over to her, as if she would have ever forgotten it without his constant reminding. There was no way she would ever forget what she had given up today. "That's right. I will lose everything if I kill you. But that is what I want."

"Then I will not hesitate to give you what you seem to long for so much.", Viper said, and without further words, charged her. Luccia saw the sharp blade of his sword approach, but couldn't help but tear her eyes from it for a second to regard the other girl again. To her surprise, she still stood, still holding that sword of hers upright. Grobyc seemed unaffected enough, even though Luccia knew that even he couldn't go on forever with that wound of his. His artificial arms and legs might work without blood, but his heart would still give out sooner or later. Luccia hoped that this would happen before the girl was killed by his enormous strength. Someone who was fighting so bravely didn't deserve to die.

Her eyes returned to Viper just in time to sidestep his attack and throw another triple of cards at him, which, even without resistance on his part, did hardly damage to his thick black coat. She had known he didn't wear something like this for nothing.

* * *

"That'll teach ya.", Kidd spat, kicking the motionless body in front of her once again for good measure. "Ya okay, Harle?", she asked, looking over her shoulder to see Harle, standing above two other bodies with the same fate as the one before. 

"Oui.", she answered and stepped carefully over the bodies as if they were contagious.

"But really, there are so many of 'em, we can't really take 'em all on by ourselves.", Kidd said, looking around the corner of the corridor they were in, seeing another group of suspicious soldiers approach. "Honestly, what did they do with Marle's soldiers?", she mumbled, readying her dagger.

"Zey might be down in ze prison. Zere iz hardly any blood around here, so moi doezn't t'ink zey are dead.", Harle answered, voicing her suspicions. Viper had done a fairly good job to simply switch the queen's soldiers with his own without it causing a ruckus. He seemed to be utterly serious this time.

"We'd better get 'em, we could use a little help." Kidd's voice didn't exactly sound worried, but Harle could feel that she could hardly stand not knowing what had happened to the queen. It was getting worse with every second.

As expected, the soldiers turning around the corner were surprised and thus soon beaten by both Harle's and Kidd's swift attacks. Still, they had no time to get every body out of the way, and sooner or later, someone would find them for sure.

They made their way to the prison as quickly as possible, but the resistance was thick and upon finally reaching it, Kidd had the feeling as if she had just fought against a hundred soldiers.

Kidd leaned down over one of the beaten soldiers on the ground, fumbling with the keys at his belt. Just like she remembered, the prison was even darker than the rest of the castle, and Kidd could only make out a few of the faces that were hidden behind the iron bars. They didn't look good, much less like they understood the situation they were in.

Harle went closer to the bars, squinting to make out the shapes in the darkness.

"Iz everyone bien?", she asked a bit hesitantly, and received a harsh cough for an answer. Eventually a shape shuffled among the others, and upon stepping in the dim light of the torches along the walls, Harle could see it was indeed a soldier, but his face was so beaten she had trouble to look at it and keep a blank expression.

"Who are you?", the man asked, his voice straightforward but demanding as if to save the last shred of dignity he possessed. The various cuts on his face weren't bleeding anymore, but Harle saw that the skin was still raw. His eyes were almost glassy.

"Here ta help ya.", Kidd stepped in as she finally took the keys off the belt and tried them on the lock in front of her.

"It's better to leave us here. It's safer than outside. They would just put us in here again, anyways. If not worse.", they heard a voice from behind the soldier in front of them. It sounded battered and weak, but Kidd couldn't help but snort scornfully.

"Would ya listen ta ya? Can't believe Marle's been hiring guys like-", she complained, but was silenced by the glare Harle was giving her. Harle shook her head in direction where the voice had come from, and as Kidd took a closer look, she saw a woman and a child behind a rather old man, the fear evident in their eyes. The woman looked like a servant, the child probably being her own.

"W…well.", Kidd stuttered, embarrassed. She averted her eyes and instead looked at the man directly in front of her.

"What's yer name?", she asked. To her surprise the man seemed to think for a moment.

"You can call me Vanel.", he then answered, his serious expression unchanging.

"Right, Vanel.", Kidd confirmed, trying to show a gentle expression despite the stress. "How's yer condition? Can ya fight?", she asked, not about to lose any more time.

"Given a sword, I'm sure I can.", he answered not without a hint of pride which had suffered a severe blow not long ago. "As do some of the other soldiers in here."

Kidd nodded approvingly, then unlocked the door and saw Vanel step out of the cell, soon followed by a few more. Left were mostly women, along with two men who seemed to be cooks. Kidd turned around and picked up the sword that was lying beside her feet. She walked inside the cell and gave it to a woman who seemed to be of moderately good health.

"Just for safety.", Kidd explained and smirked slightly at the baffled expression of the woman before her. She took it with trembling hands, but nodded. Kidd then went out of the cell and locked it. She felt uneasy about doing it, but knew that they were probably safest if the Viper soldiers couldn't reach them in case they were to awaken sooner than expected. And in case they even noticed that five people were missing from the cell, which Kidd doubted.

"Go get the others.", Kidd said to Vanel, tossing him the keys. She probably shouldn't trust him like this, but there was little choice. "This time around ya should know who's on yer side and who's not. Do yer best in keepin' them down. Don't let 'em get the upper hand just yet."

Vanel nodded gravely and took the keys, then along with the men behind him picked up the swords that lay among the scattered bodies on the floor before proceeding on to the next cell.

Kidd and Harle watched him for a few moments before heading for the stairs that led upwards. However, before they reached it Vanel's voice stopped them.

"You will…save the queen, won't you?" His voice sounded unsure and was the direct opposite to the earlier sound of his voice. Kidd could tell he was serious. She turned around and faced him with a broad and self-confident smile.

"Sure thing!", she shouted but didn't wait for a response and instead grabbed Harle's hand and dashed up the stairs. She hoped Vanel and the others would be able to stop Viper's men at least long enough for them get to the queen. They reached a fortunately empty hall and immediately took the route Kidd knew led to the queen's room.

* * *

The wind had picked up and her blonde strands whirled in front of her face. It was distracting. The even ground on the roof was also slippery with rain, and as she looked into the assassin's face, she knew that she was the only one having trouble with this. 

The assassin in front of her stood firmly, still hardly bearing any sign of fatigue or pain. It was impossible.

Her own legs were trembling with the effort of keeping her standing, the pain in her muscles increasing with every second. She was glad she was standing, she was sure she would fall right down to her knees if she just attempted to walk. But she knew that there was no way to win if she couldn't move.

Her left hand trailed the side of her bruised jaw tentatively. He had gotten quite some blows at her, while she had only been able to plant a few cuts along his arms and legs that didn't even seem to bleed.

"Why…why are you doing this?", she asked between ragged breaths. She could as well try to buy even more time, even though she knew that his patience with her was growing thin. He had let her live long enough, he could have finished her countless times before. But even though his blows had almost punched her into unconsciousness, she had a feeling that he could get a lot worse if he was serious.

She saw him staring at her, just like he had for the last couple of minutes. For a moment she thought that he hadn't heard her, but then his mouth moved to talk.

"Grobyc-does-what-is-expected-of-him.", came the answer, and Eve almost laughed.

"And what do you expect of yourself? Do you expect you can be proud of yourself when you look back on all this in ten years?", she asked, shaking her head.

"Such-things-do-not-matter.", he replied, completely unfazed. Eve gritted her teeth.

"Damn you." Did he tell her that he didn't even have a reason of his own to do such things? That he did it just for money? That he _hurt _Clair, for money?

"What does matter, then?", she snapped, for a moment forgetting about her wounds and bruises as she took a step forward, the sword's tip which had rested on the surface of the roof now lifted again.

Grobyc didn't say anything at first, but responded to Eve's action by also taking a step forward. "Only-those-who-are-stronger-than-Grobyc."

The answer caught Eve off guard, and she had trouble to hide her initial surprise. People who were stronger than him. How came that he listened to Viper's orders, then? Was Viper really stronger than this assassin? Or didn't that have anything to do with it, and he did it for the money after all? Or maybe he worked for someone else entirely? She had no idea, and there was no way of finding out now.

But still, his simplicity was true in one point. Everything that mattered was being stronger. The strong lived, and the weak died. It was as easy as that. She just had to be the former. Nothing else mattered.

Her eyes shifted to the fight between Viper and Luccia. It was only a couple of metres away, but it was so soundless and surreal as if it wasn't happening at all. Their motions were strangely fleeting and swift, their weapons always aiming, but never really touching. Luccia's moves to avoid Viper's strikes and slashes were calm, as if she was trying to avoid, but at the same time not caring about being hit at all. As if to avoid only for the practical purposes an uninjured body had. It was strange to see her like this, and Eve didn't know what to think of it. Eve couldn't think of any reasons that led her to fighting the one she was supposed to obey. But then, Eve was used to having little idea of what was going on, and she hardly cared anymore. It really wasn't her business, she was here because Clair had agreed to help them, that was all. Even though that reason was hardly important anymore. She was just fighting for her life, and for revenge.

Eve started as she saw Grobyc moving. He was about to finish this, she knew. His steps were fast and well-balanced, on the very edge of perfectionism even after fighting so long and losing so much blood. She knew her blade, albeit sharp as ever, couldn't stop him. She knew the bones on her fists would break upon meeting his body with full force.

Pearls of sweat ran down her face as she waited for Grobyc to come even closer. They were separated by merely two metres when she took her chance again. It had worked before.

"ElectroBolt!", she shouted, much like she had done before. The only difference was the fact that her voice held no strength and sounded hoarse. It felt the same as it had before, the trembling in her fingers as the lightning emerged from it and crashed into Grobyc.

She saw him fly backwards before her vision went dark for a moment, and when she opened them again, she was on her knees and faced the ground. She didn't even try to stand up again, she knew she couldn't. The pain she had fought hard to ignore came rushing back, violently tugging at her consciousness. She managed to lift her head a little, and her eyes widened in shock as she saw the assassin already standing.

The spasms of his left arms seemed to have spread over his entire body, even though he did a good job to suppress them.

"You-are-strong. But-not-stronger-than-Grobyc.", he said coolly, preparing for the next attack.

Eve knew she couldn't stop him, her stamina was completely drained. She had hoped it would finish him off. But it hadn't. And now it was too late to think about what to do. She looked down at the ground, she didn't want to see his face in the moment he killed her. The incredibly heavy footsteps came closer. At least she had kept her promise, she didn't regret it.

"Oh no ya won't!", a sudden voice yelled, and Eve's eyes shot upwards to see a blur of red above her, crashing into the assassin with full force, but only succeeding in causing a minimal change of his aim, which was still enough for him to brush past Eve.

Eve turned her head for her eyes to follow him, and saw him stumbling but regaining his stance too quickly. Even something like that couldn't stop him. What kind of monster was he?

"That's enough of ya, Grobyc.", a voice Eve now recognized as Kidd's barked, and she turned her eyes towards her saviour. She also spotted Harle beside her. Two ever inseparable partners. Eve smiled gratefully, even though it hurt and reminded her of the ugly bruise along her jaw.

However, the instant she remembered the bruise, the pain also lessened suddenly, and as Eve turned to Harle she found her smiling gently, a softly glowing blue element in her hand.

"Thanks for keepin' him away from Marle for so long. I'll take care of the rest.", Kidd said in a voice that Eve found she had missed. This ever-optimistic and almost presumptuous voice of hers that made such a difference.

Eve wanted to respond when Kidd broke into a run and charged Grobyc without any fancy words of warning. Eve couldn't help but stare after her, marvelling at Kidd's swift motions, so full of power and determinedness. She parried his attacks well, relying solely on her speed and skill instead of brute force. Kidd almost seemed to enjoy it, laughing every time she avoided his blows and struck him time and time again. She seemed to know quite well with whom she was dealing, but her cheerfulness still surprised her.

"She iz trés happy zat reine Marle iz still alive. No one can stop her now.", Harle said as if she had been reading Eve's thoughts. She extended her right arm and Eve took it gratefully, needing the help to get up.

With Grobyc in capable hands, Eve and Harle allowed themselves to watch Luccia and Viper, who still continued to fight each other soundlessly, without speaking a word. They didn't have much to say to each other at this point.

"Do you think…Luccia will make it?", Eve asked, unsure if it was the right question to ask. She didn't know if Luccia even was on their side, for whatever reason. But it was the only explanation she could think of, and judging from the slim wound across Viper's face, she was quite serious.

"She will.", Harle answered, startling Eve.

"How can you be so sure?" She began to understand why Clair was so impressed with the way Harle acted and spoke. Clair. She hoped her friend was alright, she didn't dare to think about what she would do if she wasn't.

"Zey who fight for odders are bound to be ze winnerz at some point. Only zey who fight for zemselves have not'ing to gain. Ze lucky stars will seulement shine on ze former.", Harle explained calmly. After a quick glance into Eve's nervous face, she added: "On people like Clair, aussi."

Harle's smile was the equivalent of Eve's, widening as hers did. "Merci beaucoup. For everyt'ing you were about to sacrifice for uz."

"Don't worry about it. Everyone has their reasons.", Eve answered, her gaze straying from Kidd to Luccia once again. Everyone had their reasons, surely. Even someone like her, who was panting and sweating by now, her eyes narrow with hatred and deadly intent had a reason, and Eve found herself oddly curious.

"Who is she fighting for, then?", she finally asked Harle, who seemed to know everything anyway. But instead of giving an answer right away, her lips thinned into a mysterious half-smile, as if she really was thinking about the answer.

"I wonder." Eve sighed at that response which didn't seem to be the whole truth, but let it go. She found her shoulders and stance relax. There was no need to worry. Even in the case of Luccia's defeat, there was still Harle. Eve doubted that someone like Viper would be too much of a problem for her, even though she had never really seen the other girl fight.

A sudden cry caused their heads to turn into direction of Kidd, who by now sat on top of Grobyc who lay on the ground, her dagger pressed against his throat. Kidd was out of breath, her chest heaving and sinking heavily.

"You lost.", she panted, the smile on her face broadening. It was a strange and addicting feeling to have won this battle, without any of them dying. A clean victory. She knew Grobyc wouldn't try to trick her now, if he even was capable of any such thing. She knew he would accept it. Without any response of Grobyc, she stood withdrew her dagger from his throat and stood up.

Grobyc did the same, his expression as blank as ever, as if he wasn't impressed in the least. His words contradicted the look on his face. "What-do-you-want-Grobyc-to-do?"

Kidd chuckled. Still the ever simple Grobyc. No words of pleading for his life, or any apology for what he had been about to do to the queen. Nothing at all, just repeating the little pattern that hadn't brought him exactly far in life, but hadn't killed him either. Even though she loathed him for attempting to kill Marle, she also had to admit that it was probably not his fault. She had learned to accept such things now, instead of trying to kill him in her anger over Marle. She wasn't as impulsive anymore, and as the thought occurred to her, she almost laughed at herself. She was getting too soft for this, it wasn't even funny anymore.

"Leave. And don't ya dare ta show yer face at this castle ever again.", Kidd said sternly, and Grobyc understood immediately. He turned and walked over to the edge of the roof, probably about to jump down. Strangely enough, Kidd had the feeling that it wouldn't hurt him in the least.

"Where do you think you're going?", Viper's loud and angry voice stopped him, and everyone turned their heads to him. He was in a clinch with Luccia, both having their respective weapons at each other's throats. If anyone dared to move, it would kill them both. Viper seemed to know that, but that didn't stop him from wearing his self-confident expression. Luccia guessed that even while dying, he would look so sickeningly self-confident.

"I don't think I can let you go just yet. We have a contract, and as far as I know, you haven't done your part yet.", he said, and Luccia pressed her card harder against his throat, and in return felt his sword at hers, as well. She laughed at Viper, which caused him to stare at her in bewilderment.

"Trying to tell someone like him the meaning of a contract will be as useful as asking him to feel pity. He can't understand such things, he only acts to his own rules, which follow his basic instincts and principles. He can only be strong because he is like an animal.", Luccia explained calmly, watching his growing anger with satisfaction. He stared at her and for a moment Luccia thought he would kill even though it would mean his death as well. Luccia glanced past Viper, and upon seeing what she wanted smiled. Grobyc was gone.

"Now, Viper. Kill me, in front of all those people. Kill me, and bear their unleashed hatred for the few minutes until you die. You can't escape.", Luccia whispered.

Viper grimaced at her suggestion, taking a look at the other people on the roof as if to recalculate his chances. His eyes found Kidd, Harle and Eve, and he laughed. "Now that's clever of you, Luccia.", he said loud enough for anyone to hear. "Turning your back on me just to save your own sorry life." As expected, Luccia stared at him incredulously.

"Stop deceiving them already, Luccia. I can see you don't want to be on their side. You have nothing to do with them." Viper smiled wickedly as he saw Luccia's calm expression shatter for a moment, and immediately took advantage. He tore away from her grasp and immediately struck his sword at her, succeeding in striking her right shoulder before he met Luccia's face with his elbow, causing her to stumble to the floor. Just as she tried to stand up again, Viper pointed his sword down at her face.

"I think I really should kill you.", he said in a sinister tone, the tip of his sword trailing Luccia's cheek.

"Stop zat, Viper." Harle was the first to speak, while Kidd and Eve still stared, unsure of what to say. Unsure of the worth of standing up for someone like Luccia.

Viper smiled at that, and looked at Harle with the most innocent face he could muster. "My, and here I thought she was useless as a hostage. Seems like I was wrong."

Harle was about to respond when Kidd cut her off. "Damn right you're wrong, Viper. As if we bloody care about what ya do with her!", she spat. She wasn't about to accept any conditions or the like just because of her. However, Harle made a motion for her to be silent and Kidd complied, slightly irritated. She never really understood her in situations like these.

"Do you t'ink you can get out of zis like zat?", Harle asked Viper, her expression unreadable.

Viper chuckled at this question. "Of course I will. Unless you want to see Luccia dead, you can't do anything. So all there is to do for me is to wait until my soldiers arrive and dispose of all of you."

Luccia listened closely. She knew she had to say something before Harle and Kidd did. A look over Viper's shoulder confirmed this necessity. She once again saw more than he did.

"Why not entertain us with your grand plans until that moment arrives?", she asked with a wry smile and Viper's sword trembled with restraint. Harle and Kidd kept silent.

"You really don't understand, Luccia. You don't care about the inequalities in this world. You don't even notice them. You walk through Porre, and don't notice a thing. You don't notice their presumptuous glamour, the theatres and exquisite shops that Guardia and El Nido lack. You don't notice they way they look down upon others. And even if you did, you wouldn't care.", Viper snorted, bringing the tip of his sword dangerously close to the brim of Luccia's glasses. "But I do."

He slowly looked up from where his eyes had fixed on Luccia's, and found three stunned faces. Just as expected. But they too, wouldn't understand.

"Father!" The sudden voice almost made him drop his sword, and for a few moments, he didn't dare to turn around. But when he did, he saw the dragon in the air behind him. His teeth were clenched and his eyes bore hatred. And his beloved, beautiful daughter was on top of it. He didn't have the time to react, being too shocked by the presence of his daughter in a place like this. It was wrong. Riddel was supposed to be clueless, innocent. How had she gotten here? It was impossible.

By the time he regained his senses and opened his mouth to talk, he closed it again in shock at the sight of whom his sword was pointing at. He was pointing his sword at his own daughter, who held the head of the one he had been about to kill in her hands, gently placed on her lap. She was unconscious.

"What did you do to her?", she snapped, and Viper stepped backwards at the sheer amount of anger in her voice. This wasn't like his daughter at all.

Riddel looked down to regard Luccia's bruised face, her slightly swollen left eye and the thin trail of blood that ran from the corner of her mouth. She didn't dare to look at the ugly wound on her shoulder. "Luccia.", she whispered softly, her fingers gently touching the wounded skin of her face. Her own face lit up as she saw the lilac eyes flutter open. They immediately locked onto hers.

"You okay?", she asked, stroking Luccia's hair absent-mindedly. Luccia didn't answer, but nodded, her eyes looking away in shame. She didn't deserve this.

"Riddel, what are you doing?", Viper asked, having regained his composure. He eyed his daughter with a mixture of guilt and shock.

"I should ask you the same question, father.", Riddel responded, not even looking at him.

"Get away from that woman, Riddel. She's dangerous.", Viper tried again, almost speechless at the way his own daughter was talking to him.

"Dangerous?", Riddel asked and laughed darkly. From underneath, Luccia could see the pearls of sweat on her forehead, and her flushed cheeks.

"But you aren't?" Riddel gently lifted Luccia's head and withdrew her legs from underneath to stand up. She walked towards her father, who retreated a few steps, but stopped abruptly when he realized that the dragon was standing right behind him.

"Listen, Riddel. I can explain this…", Viper started in an attempt to at least bring his daughter onto his side, but she simply shook her head. She wouldn't listen.

"Don't try to explain, father.", she said, her voice forced to sound calm even though she felt like crying. "Just answer three questions truthfully. Yes or no will do. Will you do that for me?"

Viper nodded quickly, reaching out to touch Riddel, but she backed away. "I will.", he answered, unable to hide the disappointment in his voice. Even his own daughter was afraid of him.

"Did you try to kill the queen?" The first question came easily enough, and she looked at her father who seemed to be searching for the right words. "Yes or no?"

"Yes.", Viper answered, not meeting his daughter's eyes.

"Did you try to take over Marbule, Porre and Guardia?" The second question, and Riddel almost felt as if she didn't care about the answer. Again, her father nodded. "Yes."

Riddel sighed. She had known it, she shouldn't have hoped. But she was also glad that he was honest. "And also…did you…do you want to kill her?", she asked hesitantly, unable to speak her name in this context, instead simply pointing to Luccia.

"Yes." That was it. One simple word, spoken three times. This was all it took to destroy every connection he had ever had with his daughter. He could see it in her eyes. The disappointment, the despair. The anger and the pain. It was all there, and he was the cause of it.

"Goodbye, father.", she finally said, tears running down her cheeks as she looked away. A sob escaped her lips as she heard the crack of bones as the dragon's tail hit his back and pushed him over the edge of the roof. She could hear his screams in his fall, farther and farther away the deeper he fell. She dropped down onto her knees as the screams finally ceased. Her face was covered with her hands but that didn't keep the sobs from coming, that didn't stop the hot tears on her cheeks.

"Riddel…", Luccia whispered and stood up to walk over to the other woman. She knelt down beside her, but couldn't bring herself to touch her for fear she would be rejected. From the corner of her eye she saw the others running over to the edge of the roof, staring down into the depths. But it would be too dark to see. They wouldn't be able to see his shattered body on the ground.

"I'm sorry. I couldn't stop him.", she apologized genuinely. She couldn't bring herself to feel sorry for him, but she did feel for Riddel, who hadn't given up on believing in her father until the very end.

"It's not…it's not your fault, Luccia.", Riddel said after a while, searching for Luccia's hand in the darkness. A thick cloud covered the otherwise bright moon, and she could hardly see a thing. She found the hand eventually and took it in hers. "Just promise me that you won't leave me."

Luccia regarded the dragon for a moment, seeing the pain and guilt in his eyes as he watched her. "I promise.", she answered, and leaned in to kiss Riddel's wet cheek.

* * *

Two days had passed since the attack on the queen. Two days which for most had meant sleeping and recuperating but for one had been a frenzy of organizing and planning, and many sleepless hours. 

Eve chuckled at the thought, enjoying the silence and peacefulness in the corridors she passed, even though she knew the queen was probably already up and about, stressing over all kinds of urgent matters. It had to be hard, being the one in charge.

But for once, Eve didn't feel bad to think that this didn't concern her, that she had nothing to do with it, and would simply enjoy the almost empty corridors and halls of the castle. It was still early, the sun had just barely risen, and Eve assumed that hardly anyone beside the guards at the entrance were awake yet. There had been many injuries among the queen's soldiers and Viper's, the latter of which now resided in the cells down in the basement, in groups of almost twenty persons per cell, while the former were in their respective quarters, giving the nurses a hard time with the sheer amount of wounds they had received. The whole castle was just ticking over, with hardly more than fifteen moderately healthy soldiers to stand watch. No wonder the queen couldn't sleep.

But still, Eve had to admit that it also felt incredibly good to feel like the only one in the whole castle, to simply explore it all by herself. To stop at whatever portrait to regard it for as long as she liked, to walk with her head upward to marvel at the beautiful design of the ceiling in the main hall, without anyone watching her, urging her to do something.

A clock in a part of the castle which she hadn't explored yet sounded, announcing the seventh hour of the day. The others would probably wake soon. She knew Harle and Kidd would, for they had been in good shape the day before. The same went for Riddel and Luccia, who shared a room apart from the rest of them. Eve didn't know where, exactly. She presumed their room to be in the basement as well. She hadn't gone to see them yet, for she knew that she could hardly do anything to comfort Riddel, and also, she didn't seem to be the right person to do this anyway. Luccia would probably do a better job, even though Eve knew it had to be hard to tell Riddel to cheer up when they knew nothing. They didn't know if Viper was really dead, for his corpse hadn't been found the next day. But that was also no proof that he was alive, and Riddel was probably struggling with herself about which of the options to believe in, and live with the doubts that came with it.

The clock sounded again, startling Eve out of her thoughts. It repeated its rhythmic pattern of seven strikes, then went silent again. A strange clock. As if anyone awake would be able to miss the strikes the first time. Still, it reminded Eve of what she had been about to do before she got lost in thought. She had wanted to go and see Clair.

Clair hadn't awakened even once since the attack, and even though doctors had assured her that it was only a reaction to the shock, Eve couldn't help but worry. She really wanted her to wake up already. A small smile formed on Eve's lips despite the worry. She would miss the best if she didn't.

In spite of seeming like a maze to her, Eve found the way back to their room with ease, having walked the way more often than she could count, having called for doctors every two minutes just make absolutely sure that Clair was alright. The doctors probably loathed her by now.

Eve reached the door that led to their room, and slowly closed it behind her, careful not to make more noise than necessary. Even though she should be glad if all it required was a little noise to make her friend wake up.

"Morning, sleeping princess.", Eve whispered as she sat down next to Clair's bed. She had taken to call her friend like that, partly because they were in a castle, and partly because Clair simply looked like the most innocent girl in the world while sleeping. All of her, at times, dangerous nature, and her cunningness were completely hidden underneath this innocent face much like a child's, shrouded by the clouds of beautiful dreams.

"Morning, my prince." The voice was low and a bit hoarse, and Eve's head snapped upwards to see Clair's eyes flutter open, a small and weary smile on her lips. A grin spread across Eve's face at the remark.

"How are you feeling?", she asked, taking Clair's hand in hers without thinking about it.

Clair averted her eyes for a moment, as if thinking about the question. When they returned to Eve's sparkling ones, the were obscured by a frown. "I have a terrible headache." Her voice was serious, but Eve couldn't help but chuckle lightly, grateful that a headache was all she had to worry about.

"That's good, then. I was worried that you'd miss the big event today.", Eve said cheerily.

"What kind of event?", Clair asked, now fully awake. She had never been able to suppress her curiosity.

"Oh, you'll see.", was all Eve gave away with a mysterious smile, and Clair shot her a mock frown.

"You know I hate it when you tease me like that.", she huffed, causing Eve to laugh.

"It'll be a pleasant surprise, believe me.", Eve reassured her. "What's more important, do you think you can stand up and walk?" She didn't want to push her friend, but her anticipation was too big to contain it.

Clair sat up in her bed, noticing that she was wearing a nightgown instead of the uniform she had expected to see. She idly wondered who had been the person to change her clothes. A quick glance towards Eve who turned her head away for a fraction confirmed her suspicions. "What if I can't?", Clair asked, her voice sultry. "Will you dress me and carry me piggyback?"

As expected, her question caused Eve to blush, which was soon countered with an evil smile. "No, I think I'll let our maid do that. Careful though, she can be a little rough at times. Must've come with the age.", Eve said, relishing the scandalized look Clair gave her.

"Okay, okay, you've won.", she said and stood up from the bed. She walked over to an old-fashioned cupboard on the other side of the room with an ease that surprised even herself. Upon opening it, she spotted a myriad of clothes in more styles than she could have imagined to exist, and immediately turned around to face Eve. She hadn't noticed before, but now she realized that Eve wasn't wearing her usual uniform, but sleek black pants and a light blue blouse with sleeves which were a bit too long for her arms.

"I take it I should dress in something nice?", she asked, looking Eve over with approval. "Which obviously excludes the uniform.", she added, grimacing at the thought of how their uniforms had looked. They had probably already been disposed of. Not that she cared.

She rummaged through the cupboard, taking each item out to look at it, only to frown and put it back. She didn't particularly care much about clothes, but if it was such a special event as Eve had said, she might as well look good for it.

She finally found a long dark blue skirt that reached all the way down to her ankles. It was cut slim, and Clair doubted she would be able to move all that much in something like this. Even though the simple design and the thin brass-bound leather belt that came with it made it quite appealing. It looked plain enough to be casual, but not too casual to not be elegant still.

Upon further rummaging, she also found a sleeveless white shirt with thin straps.

"You think I can wear this?", she asked as she turned around to Eve, who had silently watched her until now.

"I don't see anything wrong with it.", Eve said and shrugged, but started to cough as she saw the disappointed look of Clair. "I mean…I'm sure you'd look great in those."

"I'll take these, then.", Clair said and smirked victoriously. Eve gaped at her, but Clair started humming innocently, turning away from her. "If you'll excuse me?", she asked as she started to lift her nightgown, causing Eve to cough again. She hadn't realized she had been staring.

"I-I'll be back in a few minutes.", Eve stuttered and all but fled the room. Outside of the room she leaned against the door, exhaling deeply. _'Just you wait, Clair. I'll get you for teasing me so much.'_

However, her thoughts of revenge quickly vanished and were replaced by a content smile. As long as Clair was alright, she didn't mind being teased at all. As long as she was alright, Eve had all the time in the world to make it up to her.

She heard shuffling sounds from inside the room, knowing that Clair was just getting dressed. However, she still listened for any sounds that indicated that she had fallen or stumbled. Eve didn't believe that Clair felt truly as great as she pretended to do, but she knew as well that she was probably just being paranoid. She might as well be glad for Clair instead of worrying all the time.

"You know, Eve.", she heard Clair's voice after a while. "If you're standing in front of the door anyway you might as well come in and help me." Her voice sounded superior and Eve felt herself blushing at the thought of how transparent she was. Four-to-one for Clair.

Eve turned around with a sigh and opened the door to find Clair looking at her with an expectant smirk.

"What do you need help with?", Eve asked, careful of how to express the question. She wouldn't let Clair win another time.

"This bracelet.", Clair said, extending her right arm towards Eve, turning it so that her palm faced upwards. "Would you mind? I can't clasp it with one arm." Her voice sounded nonchalant, but Eve approached with caution. She knew she was too easy a prey.

"The bracelet suits you.", she remarked despite her conscience telling her not to. She fumbled with the clasp, her fingers trembling all of a sudden as the felt the quickened pulse. "Thanks, by the way.", she said, if just to distract herself. "For saving my life." Her fingers finally relaxed and she succeeded in closing the bracelet around Clair's wrist at last. As she looked up to Clair and stepped back, she saw a sparkle in her eyes.

"No problem.", she said and shrugged, but Eve could see that her gratefulness meant a lot to her. It showed that her sacrifice hadn't been in vain. "You saved me as well, so I guess we're even."

"Not at all.", Eve disagreed and chuckled, smiling as she saw Clair fidgeting with her bracelet. "I only had to save you because you got into danger because of me. So I still owe you one."

Clair smiled at that, stepping closer to Eve, who didn't have enough time to keep a distance between them. Before she could react Clair's lips brushed hers, but by the time she realized, they were already gone.

"Now we're even.", Clair said lightly, but didn't dare to look at Eve, and instead walked towards her bed and sat on top of it. She didn't know what was wrong with her today, she usually wasn't like this. Maybe it was the exhilarating feeling she had felt when she had opened her eyes and noticed that she was still alive. Maybe it was because the first thing she had seen had been Eve's face. Maybe it was both. The feeling didn't seem to go away, and Clair couldn't say if she had ever been so glad to be alive. She didn't feel a speck of guilt, because she knew she had done the right thing. And from the way Eve acted, everything was alright. That was all she needed to know.

"Good thing the queen gave us all those clothes to wear, our uniforms would've looked terrible.", Eve suddenly commented to destroy the uneasy silence between them. She couldn't stand it.

"Yeah.", Clair agreed, grateful for the distraction. She looked down at herself. She should wear clothes like these more often, they were a lot more comfortable than those stiff uniforms, if not as practical. She wondered if they were allowed to keep them. She looked back up to Eve and caught her scrutinizing her.

"Do we have to go yet?", Clair asked, leaning forward slightly. Eve shook her head.

"No, we're expected at nine.", Eve said, hoping that she remembered correctly. She had met the queen the previous day, after the queen had calmed down from the attack. She had been overly grateful, and had told her to come and meet her in the hall at nine the next day, and to bring Clair with her. Eve guessed that the queen was about to thank them for what they have done, and she knew that Clair's chest would swell with pride, because everyone had doubted her at first. No doubt a few compliments would make her really happy.

"Alright.", Clair sighed and flopped down on the bed. Eve watched her, but made no move to join her.

"Tell me what happened to everyone.", Clair said then, staring at the ceiling. "I obviously missed a lot." She touched her throat unconsciously, trying to get the feeling of suffocation out of her mind. It wasn't easy.

"Everyone was very brave.", Eve started, and Clair pushed the dark thoughts to the furthest corner of her mind, listening closely.

Eve continued to talk, explaining everything in such vivid detail that made Clair gasp and look at Eve in worry, looking her over for any injuries. Eve told her about her fight with Grobyc, and how Kidd had helped her in the last minute. She told her how Luccia had fought against Viper, and how Viper had fallen off the edge of the roof.

More than an hour passed, and by the time Eve finished, the clock struck nine and both of them stood up to go to the hall. Clair didn't know the way, naturally, so she held Eve's hand and let herself be led through the castle she hadn't wasted a second look at the first time she had passed through. It was surprisingly beautiful.

"Is the queen still angry?", Clair asked, suddenly growing nervous as they approached the hall. "I wasn't exactly nice to her."

Eve just laughed in response. "I don't think so." She had to admit that she had been irritated by Clair's strange behaviour as well, but now that she knew the reason she felt more stupid than anything else. "I'm sorry for doubting you, by the way. I really thought you were going crazy back there.", she said and laughed sheepishly. "It turned out that there really were a lot of Viper's men among the soldiers."

Clair sighed in relief. Eve hadn't been the only one to think she was going nuts. "Was…the soldier we took hostage one of them?", she asked. It would make her feel a lot better if he was.

Eve laughed even brighter. "Nope. He's the queen's favourite."

"Ouch.", was all Clair managed to say. Oh well, she had tried.

They reached the great hall in no time, and Clair could already see the throne with a familiar face on it. She also spotted Kidd and Harle, who stood on the right side of the hall, and Riddel and Luccia, who stood on the left. It almost seemed as if they were expected to stand in the middle, which they did.

Eve got down onto one knee, and Clair swiftly followed. "Her majesty.", Eve greeted her.

Upon hearing a laugh, they looked up simultaneously and saw the queen's amused face.

"Stop making fun of me already, you've seen me in my nightgown for pity's sake! At least spare me the majesty nonsense.", she said and laughed. Eve blushed, but Clair only smiled. She liked the way the queen talked.

She looked around, giving Kidd and Harle a wink as their eyes met, but refraining from doing so as she looked at Luccia and Riddel. Luccia's expression was blank, and she couldn't really make much sense from what Eve had told her before. Riddel seemed to be torn between happiness and grief, probably feeling too guilty to be happy, but also too happy to feel guilty. If that made any sense at all. The only thing that was obvious about them was the fact that they clearly disliked being here. It probably made them uncomfortable. Luccia because she had been on the enemy's side for the longest time, and Riddel because she was the daughter of the one who had tried to kill the queen. They didn't have it easy.

"I had you all come here because I want to express my deep gratitude to all of you.", the queen said, her voice turning serious. "You all helped to save my life."

Marle stood up from her throne, and walked down the short flight of stairs. She turned her head right, and walked over to where Riddel and Luccia stood. Clair could see that walking in this impossibly huge dress that seemed to have at least five layers was difficult, but tried to keep herself from smiling.

The queen stopped in front of Riddel and Luccia, who stood close to each other. Riddel looked ashamed, and didn't dare to meet Marle's eyes. However, as she saw the queen going down on her knees in front of them, she couldn't help but gasp.

"My gratitude to both of you.", she said calmly. As she stood up again, she took both Riddel's and Luccia's hands in hers and bowed. She felt Riddel's hand tremble while Luccia's felt as if she wanted to withdraw it as soon as possible. She looked at Luccia, slightly surprised to see the expressionless face. She wasn't bothered by it, Marle could imagine why Luccia had this distanced attitude. She wasn't about to push her.

Instead, she continued on to Eve and Clair, who were standing by now. Again, she knelt down before them. "I thank you in the name of Guardia. You have done us a great favour." Marle stood up again, and Clair immediately saw the glint in her eyes as she eyed her. "Even if your methods were a little unconventional." Clair smiled in response. "I'm afraid I don't regret it one bit.", she said and the queen laughed at that. "I was afraid of that."

With that, she moved on to Kidd and Harle. Kidd was already grinning like a Cheshire cat, and instead of kneeling down, Marle hugged both of them tightly.

"So you are the one who dragged them into this?", she asked Kidd, who just shrugged. "In the broadest sense.", Kidd replied, and immediately received a smack over the head.

"Irresponsible brat.", Marle laughed, then turned to Harle. "Thanks for putting up with her all the time, I'd go crazy if I had to deal with her."

Harle chuckled in response, then bowed before the queen. "It iz mon pleazure." Marle nodded approvingly, then returned to her throne.

"Your deeds shall not be in vain, and therefore I will reward you for what you have done.", she announced. "I bid you to come closer."

The six of them complied and walked closer to the throne, until they formed a tight half-circle. Luccia's glance shot nervously towards Harle, who was looking at the queen like the other four.

"For one, I want you to have a title worthy of your deed.", the queen said, a mysterious smile playing on her lips. "So I ask of you: Will you accept knighthood?"

As expected, everyone in the room went silent, the two knights behind her as well as all six women in front of her. Even Kidd seemed speechless, which was quite an achievement.

The queen watched the group for a while, making bets with herself on who would be the first to speak. She had a clear favourite, but wasn't sure if Kidd might not be faster. But even Kidd seemed to have changed. She was somehow calmer. Maybe being in life-threatening situations all the time did that to a person. Marle wouldn't know. She had never truly risked her life.

Almost a whole minute passed until Luccia stepped forward boldly. She bowed politely, and as she spoke her voice was serious. "I vill…", she started, but immediately stumbled over her words. Riddel stiffened at the sound of it, only now realizing the pressure the other woman had to be under to let her concentration slip like this.

"I will gratefully decline this generous offer.", Luccia started anew, this time without mistake. She inwardly wondered if her words sounded too stiff, but she didn't let it bother her. She would soon be out of this castle.

"Very well.", Marle said and nodded, but inwardly laughed. She had been right after all. Her eyes met Riddel's, who stepped forward to join Luccia. "The same goes for me as well. I have done nothing worthy of this title.", she said calmly and curtseyed. She didn't add the fact that it would embarrass her to be called a knight when all she had heard her entire life had been "Lady Riddel".

"I hope you won't regret this choice.", Marle said, but her smile gave away that she understood their reasons perfectly. As Riddel and Luccia retreated, Marle looked at Eve expectantly.

Eve's hands were clenched into fists, and her legs wavered between stepping forward and standing. She didn't know what to do, especially since Riddel and Luccia had already declined. She glanced to Clair for support, but all she found was a knowing smile, accompanied by a firm shove that caused her to stumble forward. Eve looked back at Clair in shock, then up to the queen. She felt cornered.

"I…", she said, fumbling with the hem of her blouse. She gulped and continued. "I would be honoured." That was it. There was no turning back now.

"Finally." Marle smiled appreciatively. "Step forward."

Eve did as she was told, and the queen stood up to take the sword of the knight who stood to her left. With dread Eve realized that it was the knight Clair had knocked out. At least his nose didn't seem too bad, even though she was sure it was broken.

As Marle held the sword vertically in front of her, Eve went down on one knee. The touch of the sword on her right shoulder soon followed.

"I hereby dub thee knight of honour of the kingdom of Guardia.", Marle said, and finished with another touch of the sword on Eve's left shoulder. When Eve looked up again, her face was bright and she looked as if a childhood dream of hers had come true. Maybe it had.

The procedure continued smoothly. Clair, who wouldn't allow herself to do otherwise, accepted the queen's offer as well, and both Kidd and Harle followed in the same manner. Each of them had their own reason for accepting knighthood, but all of them seemed equally happy afterwards.

Later, four knights and two equally content women stood before the queen, and Marle smiled proudly.

"Now, I want to reward you in spite of the title some of you have received. To express my gratitude for this immense favour you have done to Guardia, I will grant every one of you a reward of 50000G.", the queen said and stayed perfectly calm, as if this amount of money was mere pocket change for her.

The reactions to this offer were quite different. Riddel and Luccia remained calm, and the queen did already know their answer. Eve and Clair however stared open-mouthed in incredulous stupor, while Kidd simply grinned from ear to ear.

As before, Riddel and Luccia were the first to speak, as if it was a laid down order.

"As I said before, I am not deserving of such a reward. Therefore I will decline this offer as well.", Riddel spoke, without a hint of regret in her voice.

"The same goes for me.", Luccia joined her, and they both retreated.

"I see you are the rare kind.", Marle said and smiled gently. Again she looked at Eve and Clair, naturally expecting that they too, would make a joint decision. Again, Eve seemed nervous, while Clair didn't seem impressed in the least. Clair couldn't ignore the thought that this offer could be meant as a test for them, even though she had no idea why the queen would do such a thing.

Clair stepped forward and tugged at Eve's hand to follow her. "It is impossible for us to accept such a huge amount of money. We are honoured by your offer, but we too, will have to decline.", Clair said steadily, even though it hurt her just a little bit. The thought that they at least hadn't walked into her trap, if there even was one, didn't do much to console her. Still, she knew that despite her greed, it was the right thing to do. To be knighted was already more than they deserved. They, who hadn't really cared about the queen as a person in the first place.

Marle grinned despite herself. Clair was so ever-cautious. It didn't bother her that everyone declined her offer, she had no desire to waste any money on people who didn't want it. But she knew someone did. She turned to face Kidd.

"I hope you don't disappoint me, Kidd.", she said and smirked, which was immediately mimicked by Kidd.

"Ya know, normally I would refuse such an offer…", Kidd started, and Harle rolled her eyes. "But since I know ya can spare it, we'd be bloody stupid not ta take it!" She laughed at that, and her eyes gleamed with the unsuppressed and indecent joy of the thought of money. Harle shoved her gently, partly embarrassed of her lover's behaviour, but also glad that some things about her didn't change, after all.

Luccia regarded them, growing impatient. It seemed as if they weren't needed anymore. If they had ever been needed in the first place.

"Let's leave.", she whispered into Riddel's ear.

"Where to?", Riddel asked.

"Anywhere you want.", was the quiet answer.

And so they left, while Kidd was arguing with Marle over the amount of money, Clair and Eve watching them laughingly. Nobody saw them leave, except of Harle.

But she kept silent.

---

A/N: As always, I'm immensely grateful for reviews, so don't let anything stop you if you have any opinion about this chapter at all. Thanks for reading!


	19. The paths they take

A/N: FINALLY! Damn, that took too long, but about the worst writer's block ever hit me, so I wasn't able to do much for three weeks. Sucks. Anyway, I'm done now, so I hope you'll enjoy this last chapter. Please leave a review if you do. Thanks for reading.

P.S.: Also, you might want to have your translation progs ready for this one. Just in case.

Epilogue – The paths they take

The warm sun shone onto her face, inviting her eyes to finally open and wake her from her deep slumber. They twitched irritably but eventually succumbed to the gentle request due to the lack of an excuse to do otherwise.

Her vision cleared, and she caught the ray of light which struggled from her window through the slim slit between the curtains and across the soft wooden floor until it finally reached her face. It had a pleasant warmth, and Luccia wondered if the temperatures outside were just as nice. She would find that out, later.

Turning her head to the side she frowned in unpleasant surprise as her eyes met nothingness. She reached out her arm and ran her fingers along the smooth and silky sheets. They were cold upon her touch, the warmth of the body that used to lie in this spot beside her having vanished long ago. She averted her eyes from the dismayingly empty spot and moved her head upward to look at the ceiling.

It was painted in a soft yellow tone, and Luccia found herself liking it more with each morning she awoke to see it. She had been opposed to this colour at first, but in the bright mornings, when she saw the rays of the early sun dance across the ceiling in an attempt to chase away the shadows of the curtains, she loved it. Loved how the yellow went bright when touched by the sun, but was beautifully unobtrusive and calming when the sun left it. A nice pairing of colours.

She saw the dance of the sun intensifying and shortly after felt a breeze on her cheeks. She turned to look at the window again, this time looking through the thin curtains to see the open window behind. Riddel had probably been the one to open it, possibly hoping it would wake her.

Luccia watched the sunrays for a few moments more, then decided to get up. As she did, her look fell onto the clock on the wall opposite of the large bed. She saw the black arms point upward in front of a light blue background and didn't need to be able to read the numbers to know it was almost noon. She had slept late again, a bad habit that grew harder with each day to get rid of. She had become lazy too, a fact that Riddel tried every day to talk her out of, telling her that it was fine for her not to do anything for a change.

For a change Riddel said, but the truth of her having done barely anything above sleeping and reading all these past days and weeks still got through to her. Vacations were vile things to make her feel so useless, especially self-set ones of undefined lengths. They nagged at her, telling her she was wasting her time dozing all day. But Riddel kept telling her she had earned it, and there was little arguing with someone as hard-headed as her. If only anyone beside Luccia would believe this.

The thought brought a smile to her face, one that she still found uncharacteristic and odd but Riddel insisted to be the most beautiful and irresistible smile in the whole wide world. They still heavily disagreed on this when it came up, which more often than not ended in fierce pillow fights and one of them being pinned down onto the bed defencelessly. Which happened to be Luccia most of the time, her dislike of hitting Riddel even with something as harmless as a pillow preventing her from a certain victory. Riddel didn't seem to have similar reservations, though.

Finally finding her glasses on the bedside table, which by now undoubtedly bore the spiteful prints of her searching fingers, she put them on, blinking at the sudden clearness. Her eyes searched for the clock once more, confirming her earlier suspicions. It really was almost noon.

'No wonder it's so quiet outside.', she mused, walking over to the window to take a look outside. Hardly anyone was to be seen, except of a pair of kids leaving the house two stories beneath her, laughing while passing a red and blue leather ball between their feet as they walked. She knew where they were heading, and it was a strangely relieving feeling. It was enough for her to know. She walked from the window through the doorframe of the bedroom which held no door. Riddel had said it was in the way. 'As in "in the way of watching her whenever she slept"', Luccia thought with a chuckle as she stepped into the living room, sitting down at a set table she knew to be Riddel's doing as well.

She also found a note under the little basket with a few slices of bread in it, as she knew she would. Luccia smiled as she took it and brought it closer to her eyes to read it.

'_Today's guess is eleven-fifty. I know I'm right, so don't pretend it isn't so. There's a letter for you on your bedside table if you haven't noticed. If it's him again, just turn him down. That guy really doesn't know what he's asking of you. Get me at three. See ya.'_

The note was short as always, but Luccia never failed to notice the emotions Riddel had put in it, in a fine layer underneath which only her trained eyes could see. They were hidden to unsuspecting eyes, but Luccia always saw them, cherishing their endless value. This playful language, with so much love and concern hidden in those few, simple words. It amazed her every morning anew, so much that she kept all those notes somewhere even Riddel didn't know to look. In case this dream of hers should ever shatter, she would always have these notes, and a few letters Riddel had written her on the rare occasions when they had been apart, over the last four years. Which hadn't happened especially often, due to the bond that had formed between them, which pulled them together like the force of gravity. But Luccia knew that the most beautiful things didn't last forever. As much as she liked them to, as much as she longed for it. She didn't like to think about it, today.

On her way back to the bedroom to look for the letter she had missed earlier, her hand brushed past the sheets on her desk. She always let her fingers slide across them as she passed, as if to confirm that they still existed, that they were still there, waiting for her. It calmed her to know this. The paper felt dry and slightly dusty, yearning for her touch. She had abandoned them for a while now, but she wasn't ready yet. She needed more time.

She passed the desk and re-entered the bedroom, only now realizing that she should probably bring the sheets in order. She had never exactly understood the concept of order when it concerned those small and insignificant things. She knew nobody would see the bed like this except of her and Riddel, and she couldn't grasp the advantage it brought if the sheets were smoothed out. But the lack of something better to do and her wish to please Riddel made her do it anyway. She shook the cover once, then folded it on top of the sheets carefully.

Remembering the letter, she sat down on the bed, being aware that it would destroy her meticulous work this instant. She didn't care, she had enough time.

The letter was thin and Luccia guessed there to be only one page in it. As usual. She was almost glad for it, it lessened the time she would unavoidably be wasting with it. The sender knew it too, Luccia confirmed as she glanced at the page after opening the letter without much fuss.

'_Dear Luccia,_

_I hope you are well. I haven't heard of you in quite a while, and thought it necessary to confirm your well-being. I suggest a meeting in Termina in four day's time, if it isn't too much of a bother for you. I would like to discuss some of my thoughts regarding your work with you. I hope you are as kind as to give me an instant answer._

_Yours sincerely,_

_Timothy'_

The letter was as off-putting and awkwardly-worded as ever, struggling so hard to sound nice when all there was to it were simple orders, shouted from the mouth of an impatient man. She had never been particularly fond of him, but chose to work for him still. It was a small consolation that she hardly ever had to see him in person.

Her fingers moved to fold the letter again, but decided against it halfway and ripped it into halves instead. Standing up, she walked to the window to finish it. She tore the paper a few times more until all that was left were tiny shreds being carried away by a gust of wind that was so kind as to take this burden from her. She wouldn't answer him this time.

Now being freed of this task, she turned her back to the still open window and walked over to her wardrobe, thinking about the most suitable clothes to wear. She knew it was warm outside, but having a seemingly innate discomfort in short clothes, she chose a pair of white trousers which Riddel had bought her only a few days ago. It fit tight around her thighs, but was comfortable if a little too wide around her calves. It was kind of a compromise between Luccia's love for comfortable wide clothes and Riddel's strange fancy of seeing her in tight garments. She never knew where that came from, for she thought of herself as too skinny and she found her long legs to be more in the way than actually appealing.

Luccia searched through the drawers until she spotted the shirt which she believed to go best with the white trousers. It had a simple blue colour with the exception of having white long sleeves. She knew Riddel would scold her for not wearing something with short sleeves, but the fabric was thin and Luccia was sure it would be fine.

She took off the oversized shirt she had worn for the night and exchanged it with her newly laid out clothes swiftly. However, a look in a long and slim mirror beside the wardrobe confirmed her suspicions. It wasn't enough. Her long hair, which was untied and reached halfway down her back was ruffled and stood into all directions as if electrically charged. Her frowning and pale face also didn't look like she expected it to shortly after waking up.

She headed for the bathroom with a wry smile on her lips. Four years ago, she wouldn't have cared about such insignificant things, wouldn't have bothered trying to look good to please anyone but herself, if at all. But things had changed, and she regretted not a single second she spent fretting over what to wear and how to look for the person who mattered the most to her.

A cold splash of water into her face filled her pale cheeks with a rosy colour, and as she combed her hair, trying to smooth it out to the best of her abilities, she looked satisfied with herself. Life was good.

She left her hair the way it was, not tying it to a ponytail as usual if just for the fact to prove to Riddel that her suggestions reached her. Even though she knew that she had never needed to prove herself to Riddel, who had always been too kind and forgiving for her own good. In fact, trying to prove herself to her had been one of Luccia's worst decisions in her life. She didn't ponder on it however. A long time had passed and nothing of her old life had remained until now. She didn't like to think about it, nor was there any need to do so. She hoped it would stay like this.

She left the bathroom without another glance at the mirror. She walked through the living room and opened the glass door on the other side of the apartment that led to a small balcony. Recently she found herself spending almost all of her time when she wasn't with Riddel here, and as the sight of fresh and glittering roses met her eyes, she knew this time hadn't been wasted.

The balcony, despite offering a fairly beautiful view over the town, was used for these roses only, because the lighting conditions were the best here and Luccia hardly ever indulged in sights at the town anyway. There was only one person worth looking at for an extended amount of time, and it exceeded this view by far.

The balcony was divided into three sections. On the left there were red roses, which Luccia had tried hard to get into the shape and colour she wanted them to have. They had long stems and broad and supple buds of a unique red that was far lighter than the deep and waxen colour they usually possessed. Their thorns were thick and sharp, and Luccia knew they would hurt her the moment she touched them. But that was alright, they weren't to be touched yet. Luccia smiled slightly at the sight of them. They were doing well.

The bush next to it bore yellow roses and compared to the red ones, their buds were long and slim, and with their stem smooth and free of thorns they looked more like tulips than roses. They looked innocent yet strong and incredibly beautiful. She knew Riddel always said they grew so well because of her vast knowledge of plants, but it was a little secret between the plants and Luccia that in reality, it was Riddel's soothing and gentle voice which encouraged them to grow and shine. The way she watered them on Luccia's behalf, but treating them so with so much more caring and gentleness than Luccia ever could. Luccia sometimes wondered if Riddel ever knew just how much of an effect her beautiful voice had on practically every living being. She probably didn't, her modesty shielding herself from such thoughts. But that was all right, because Luccia would show her, over and over again, through these roses.

She took her time contemplating which one to take, and ultimately chose a fully blossomed yellow rose directly in front of her. It had the same colour as their bedroom ceiling when the rays of sun touched it. She carefully cut its stem to separate it from its bush, then turned to leave the balcony without paying attention to the third rose bush with its small and fragile variations of blue. She had tried to breed roses of a light blue for a long time, but so far had only managed to create a dark blue on roses which were too small and different for them to be anywhere perfection. But she didn't mind all that today. She simply left the balcony, the yellow rose in her left hand.

With that rose still in her grasp, she left their apartment. Upon setting her feet onto the wooden planks outside she took a deep breath. It was still fairly quiet, as Luccia preferred it to be. Most people were in their tents and houses by now, avoiding the strong midday sun even though it wasn't hot. This was what they were used to. Standing up early in the mornings to work hard until noon, then taking a long break and continue working in the afternoon. She used this time to her advantage, going on long walks while everything was still quiet and peaceful and hardly anyone around to disturb her.

She liked Guldove. Even though it barely resembled the village it had been in earlier years, it had kept its village spirit even as a growing town. It was a lot wider now, and most of the tents had been replaced by wooden houses, one of which Luccia and Riddel lived in. It was a lot more modern too, but Luccia had expected little else considering the example of the city closest to Guldove, Termina, set.

Four years ago, when the question of where to live had been raised, Luccia would have expected Riddel to suggest Termina, but to her surprise she had chosen Guldove instead. Luccia guessed Termina would have been too close to the mansion, a place neither Riddel nor her had ever been to since then. It was a place Riddel wanted to have nothing to do with, and even though Luccia knew she felt, as the original heir of the mansion, guilty for having left everyone there alone, she could perfectly understand her choice.

They didn't even know what had become of the mansion until now. They occasionally met the Devas on their rare visits to Termina, but even when they met, their conversations were awkward and shortened by the unspoken enmity between them. Luccia knew, because even though she considered herself as neutral to almost everything that didn't concern Riddel, she could see the glances she received from the Devas. They hated her, not Riddel. Hated her because she was the easy target to blame for everything that had happened. It was her who had betrayed Viper, and her to take Riddel from them, leaving them on their own. Luccia knew it was only natural that she would be blamed. And she accepted it.

Riddel on the other hand had never been able to look at the Devas in the same way again, even though she had never asked the Devas about what they had known of Viper's doing or where they had been at the time all this had happened. So in the end, there was only one thing that made Riddel visit Termina every once in a while. It was _his_ grave.

She still visited it at least once every month, to bring him some of the bellflowers he had loved so much. But recently Riddel even disliked visiting his grave, for fear that she would meet Glenn, as she had done more often recently. She couldn't bear the accusing glare she received from Glenn whenever they stood in front of his grave, side by side. A glare that demanded a good reason why someone like Riddel even had the right to show up at his brother's grave, after all she had done, and whom she had betrayed him with.

Luccia knew those things, even though she had never accompanied Riddel to his grave. She knew that every time Riddel returned from his grave with tears in her eyes, she had met him. But there was nothing she could do about it, except hoping that Riddel's love for her would always be stronger than their glares.

By the time Luccia looked up from where her eyes had followed the grain of the thick wooden planks beneath her feet, she had arrived at the entrance of the town. A walk that, with all the usual detours she had taken, had probably taken her almost two hours. Walking in silence was a pleasant way to simply idle her time away.

Luccia approached the building that despite of all the changes Guldove as a town had gone through, still looked almost exactly like it had a few years earlier. She doubted the owner would ever change it as long as it sufficed the way it was.

With still a little time to spare, Luccia leaned against the fabric-stringed wall next to the entrance, waiting. She turned the rose in her hand, regarding it from all sides. It was perfect now, but it would wilt all too soon. Still, it would serve for the day and fulfil its reason for living. It was almost cruel of her, Luccia realized. Even after spending what little talent she believed of having on such low biologics as plant breeding, it still resulted in cruelty and ignorance towards living beings. Her improvement wasn't that great after all. She still caused suffering, as if she had never done anything else.

The faint sound of people talking behind the wall she was leaning on distracted her from her thoughts, and she knew it was her. She heard a laugh, short and brisk and unmistakably belonging to Riddel. Under different circumstances, it would have made her jealous. And indeed, the rose in her hand turned a little faster as if to compensate for what she didn't dare to show. She smiled wryly.

A familiar humming came closer and as she heard the steps to her left, Luccia extended her left arm to stop her, the rose directly in front of her face.

"I've been waiting.", Luccia said and smiled at Riddel, who looked at her in mild surprise. She reached for the rose offered to her, but Luccia pulled it back and smiled.

"No greeting?", she asked and her smile widened, and for a moment she forgot how stupid she thought herself looking while grinning.

"A greeting?", Riddel asked and her lips curled upwards in comprehension. She shot a glance to the side and with no one to be seen, stepped closer to Luccia until their breaths mingled and their bodies touched. She moved her head forward but halted for a moment to tease Luccia before their lips met in a gentle kiss.

"Did you mean this greeting?", Riddel asked after they broke the kiss. "Or that other one?" She smiled as she saw Luccia's pleased face turn into a frown, which soon turned into surprise as Luccia felt Riddel's hands crawl under her shirt. Luccia blushed and quickly grabbed the roaming arms of a giggling Riddel. They kissed again, more passionate and hungrily than before.

When they parted, Luccia stroked Riddel's loose hair behind her left ear and placed the yellow rose behind it as well, adorning her almost complementary hair.

"Yellow, the colour of envy.", Riddel said with a playful smile, touching the rose affectionately.

"No.", Luccia said gently with a shake of the head, marvelling at the beauty before her. "The colour of maturity."

It was a compliment, but Riddel's face soon greeted her with a mock frown.

"Are you saying I'm old?", she asked, pressing her index finger onto Luccia's chest dangerously.

Luccia chuckled at the contact and pulled Riddel close to her, her arms fitting comfortably around the smaller woman's waist. "No, I'm saying you have the perfect age."

Riddel looked up to her with questioning eyes. "Perfect age for what?" But as soon as the question left her mouth a look of comprehension crossed her face and she gave Luccia a scandalized look. "Do I even want to know?"

She freed herself from Luccia's grasp and turned away as if to run from her, but Luccia quickly captured her again from behind.

"I don't know.", she breathed into Riddel's ear, causing her to shudder in her grasp. Riddel squirmed and struggled to free herself, all the while giggling at the sensation of Luccia's breath on her neck and simultaneously pleading for mercy, until they heard someone clear his throat next to them.

Riddel and Luccia turned around abruptly, but Luccia's arms remained around Riddel's waist, not about to let go anytime soon. As expected, it was Doc who stood in front of them, giving them a look that showed only half annoyance.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't keep away my patients.", he said and tried to look at Riddel sternly, but at the sight of her content and happy and almost girlish face couldn't keep from smiling.

Riddel put on her most innocent face as she had always done when scolded, and looked around questioningly until she spotted a young boy standing at a safe distance from them. He had tears in his eyes and as Riddel lowered her gaze she saw the cause of it. He had a scratched knee. Fortunately, the wound didn't seem to be too deep, for it only bled slightly.

"Oh, poor boy.", Riddel said in surprise. "Come here.", she called in her sweetest voice, motioning for the boy to come closer. He had obviously been wary of passing them, and with a look over Riddel's shoulder Luccia saw it was because of her, for the boy looked at her with what seemed like awe but was more probably fear. Following Riddel's voice he came closer, and Luccia had half a mind to scare him for staring at her so insolently. But she let it go, thinking it unfair to scare an injured boy, and watched him as he passed them and quickly hobbled into Doc's practice.

"See you tomorrow, then.", Doc said and nodded at Riddel, who had recently become a very reliable and much needed apprentice of his. Since Guldove had grown quite a bit over the last years, one doctor alone was hardly enough to cover the daily injuries especially the children incurred every day. Riddel was a great addition and the patients, old and young alike, completely adored her. As did Doc, who was both glad and proud to have someone like Riddel to his aid.

Riddel waved and, finally released from Luccia's cutely possessive grasp, they walked away hand in hand, trying to look as innocent and unsuspicious as possible.

"I wonder why the boy was so afraid to pass us.", Riddel chuckled, once out of Doc's earshot who had gone inside his practice again. "Do we really look that strange?" She leaned into Luccia as they walked, enjoying the feeling of her strong shoulder underneath her head, moving in the same rhythm she did.

"He was worried about you, but too scared to act.", Luccia answered as if it was perfectly obvious.

"Worried? Why should he be?", Riddel asked surprised, and Luccia had to suppress a giggle at her utter naïveté. Riddel looked up at Luccia, who for all the world looked omniscient and mightily pleased about that fact. Sometimes Riddel believed that she really knew everything.

"He thought I was hurting you.", Luccia said, a slightly evil smile on her lips, which was quickly copied by Riddel, despite her initial surprise at this revelation.

"A pretty sharp boy.", she said and laughed brightly. "If only he knew what you've done to me, corrupting a fair and utterly helpless maiden like me, robbing me of my blessed ignorance…", she whimpered, bringing the back of her hand to her forehead as if about to swoon. Now it was Luccia's turn to laugh as she gathered Riddel up in her arms and crossed a small bridge that led from Guldove, which was entirely built on water, to the isle next to it. After having crossed the bridge Luccia set her down again, both of them regarding the landscape in front of them as they walked.

The isle consisted mostly of volcanoes, which had become extinct long ago. The valleys and slopes in between lay fallow, nobody taking advantage of the fertile ground, which in turn lead to the growing of some of the strangest yet most beautiful flowers and trees Luccia had ever seen. Luccia loved this sight. This strange sight of seemingly dead ground dotted with rare and marvellous plants that left the observer speechless. Ever since seeing this land for the first time, she had made an unconscious connection with it. She knew that this scenery resembled her heart. It depicted exactly how her heart looked like inside. Most of it was dark and unused, but there were these few spots of beauty that she drew all her energy from. She knew that Riddel was the reason that things such as love, caring and the sheer joy of being alive could grow on this ground that was her heart, which had been so full of repressed emotions, trying hard to feign death.

Luccia's hold of Riddel's hand tightened unconsciously, and Riddel looked up from where she had observed the soft and hardly used path underneath their feet. Hardly anyone ever came here, mostly because there wasn't much to do except watching the scenery, which Riddel was sure the people from Guldove had long grown tired of, most of them being natives.

"What is it?", she asked, but received only a shake of the head as an answer. She let it go, knowing when Luccia didn't want to talk about things that concerned her. Which still happened aggravatingly often, unfortunately. Riddel tried a different approach.

"Did you read the letter?" This made Luccia look at her, her eyes now cleared from her previous thoughts.

"Yes, it was from Timothy.", Luccia replied, indecisive whether to laugh or to be depressed over that fact. "He probably wants me to hurry, as always."

"Honestly, that man…", Riddel huffed. "I'd like to see how he would do when being forced to write three books a year."

Luccia chuckled at Riddel's annoyance, glad that she wasn't the only one who felt that way. "He just wants money. He would copy my books himself if he had to."

"He's crazy, asking you to work so much. He just doesn't get it.", Riddel said, the annoyance still evident in her voice. She would give him a piece of her mind the next time she saw him.

Luccia felt the Riddel's tension in her hand, and leaned over to kiss her softly. "Let's not talk about work, today.", she whispered as she held Riddel's head between her hands.

However, before Riddel had the chance to respond, Luccia's hands had already grabbed hers, dragging her along as she ran down a path which lead to a secluded lagoon which was hardly visible for those who didn't know where to look. They had been there many times before, so even while running Riddel had no problems to keep her footing on the steep ground beneath her.

It didn't take them long to reach the small beach which was surrounded by mountains and volcanoes and only possessed a slim passage to the open ocean. It was the perfect place in every sense.

Panting for air, Riddel sat down onto the sand to take her light shoes off, the hem of her long and light green sundress fluttering in the warm breeze. Luccia lay down beside her, her hands behind her head.

"It's beautiful every time anew, isn't it?", Riddel asked softly, watching the tiny waves roll in and out in a steady rhythm.

"Not as beautiful as you.", Luccia answered promptly, not even wasting a glance at the ocean, instead focusing her attention on Riddel.

Riddel chuckled not without a hint of embarrassment. "Now you're lying.", she said, rolling over so that she came to sit on top of Luccia, who seemed unperturbed by the upcoming threat. "Admit it."

Luccia simply smiled and removed her hands from underneath her head to clasp them around Riddel's, pulling her down so that their lips could meet in a sweet and warm touch. It was this touching of lips that Luccia longed for, craved for with all her being, every single day of her life. It was magical, irresistible and utterly compelling, every time anew. She knew that the day she would find herself depraved of this sensation would be her last. If Riddel was ever to disappear, she could never bear it.

"Never", she breathed, her purple eyes fixating Riddel's slightly brighter ones. "Never…"

Riddel leaned in for another kiss, smiling as she did so. "You're irresistible do you know that?", she said gently, her index finger tracing the outline of Luccia's face. Luccia smiled at that and stroked Riddel's cheek, who pressed her cheek against Luccia's hand like a cat, inviting the caress.

"Promise me that we'll stay like this forever.", Luccia then said, with a shyness that was almost unusual for her. Together forever, such a hopelessly cliché thought.

Riddel simply chuckled, dipping her head to shower Luccia's face with kisses, mumbling "silly" with each gentle kiss. When she finished, she lay down on top of Luccia, listening to her slightly quickened heartbeat as well as her calming breathing. She was alive, _they_ were alive. As long as this much was true, nothing would be able to tear them apart.

"Of course we will. There's no one else I would enjoy spending eternity with.", she whispered just loud enough for Luccia to hear. The words came easy, and if it had been anyone else Luccia would have thought that it wasn't spoken with the same sincerity the words implied. But these words had come from Riddel's mouth, and if she couldn't trust her, she couldn't trust anyone in the whole world and beyond.

"That's good.", Luccia breathed with obvious contentment, but couldn't suppress a small grin, which was invisible to Riddel who had tucked her head beneath Luccia's chin. "Because you would have a hard time getting rid of me."

"I'll better not try that, then.", Riddel answered with a small chuckle. She didn't look up to see Luccia's face, but knew she was smiling as well. "Being stalked by you would be scary."

"You don't even know how scary I can get.", Luccia spoke with a dark and superior voice. She tightened her grip around Riddel, who squealed in feigned fear.

"You know, you should use your accent. I bet it would be even scarier.", she said between laughs and received a snort from Luccia.

"Never.", Luccia said, entirely serious, prompting a curious glance from Riddel, who looked up at her.

"Why not? To be honest, I always thought you sound kind of sexy when you speak like that." Thus the real reason was revealed, and Luccia looked at her with a questioning frown.

"No.", she simply said.

"Oh please, do it for me.", Riddel pleaded, playing her trump card: Herself.

Luccia wavered ever so slightly, but quickly recovered her blank expression. "Not even for you." She saw Riddel pout, but remained determined. "I'm glad it's finally gone."

"Oh come on.", Riddel prodded Luccia, intent not to give up too soon. However, Luccia shook her head firmly.

Riddel sighed, giving in for now. She would have to try another time. She felt a tickle at her bare feet, and it took a few more moments for her to realize that it was water. She turned around, seeing the waves reach up to her feet. She hadn't expected the tide to come in so soon. She stood up and helped Luccia do so as well.

"Didn't think it would come so soon.", Riddel said and took a few steps into the water until it reached halfway up her calves, almost touching her dress. Luccia leaned down to fold up the legs of her trousers until they barely reached her knees, then followed Riddel.

"It's pretty warm, for the season.", Riddel said with a small smile as she turned around to see Luccia approaching.

"Yes.", Luccia agreed, enjoying the feeling of the tingling of warm water on her skin, and the wet sand beneath her feet. The water was almost as warm as the already pleasant air temperature. "The streams take the warm water of Marbule here."

Riddel nodded, satisfied with the explanation Luccia had given her, even though she didn't fully understand. "It's pretty warm now in Marbule, isn't it?"

"Probably.", Luccia agreed, looking up to the unclouded sun. It was still fine, but she knew that in a few weeks, it would get a lot warmer. She didn't think she could ever get used to raw heat, and neither could her skin, who still bore the same pale complexion as ever. But then, she had never stopped wearing long sleeves.

"Let's go there a little later then.", Riddel suggested what Luccia knew was out of consideration for her. She knew Riddel loved the summer, while Luccia could only ever appreciate spring and autumn. Winter was still within acceptable limits, for the temperatures never got uncomfortably low in all of El Nido. But the summers killed her every year again.

The fact that she stood in the ocean in spring, mentally whining about the upcoming and supposedly cruel summer like a child would over the prospect of having to meet the evil stepmother made her chuckle. She really shouldn't complain. By the time they went to Marbule, the temperatures there would have cooled down slightly. And if that wasn't the case, they could always hide out in the cave during the hot noons, enjoying the fresh water and comfortable shadow offered there. As well as Heilel's company.

They visited him a few times a year, each time staying for a couple of days. Most of the time passed in his company, and while Luccia had to admit that she also thought of their visits as a kind of redemption, it was Riddel who seemed to truly enjoy it. She would talk to him for hours, speaking enough for the both of them. She hardly ever stopped, even though she never got a response much more distinct than yes or no, which the dragon conveyed through his motions. Riddel didn't mind this at all, all the time saying how glad she was that he was mute instead of deaf, so he could at least listen to her and answer her, given easily answerable questions.

"We should bring him something nice, this time.", Luccia said, stepping closer to Riddel to wrap her arms around her from behind.

"Some souvenir.", Riddel agreed. She would really like to give him one, it was the least they could do. After all, Riddel still blamed herself sometimes, for the things Luccia had done. If she had realized certain things earlier, nothing of this would have happened. But then, Heilel didn't blame them, didn't hate them for what had happened to him. Riddel liked to think that maybe, despite everything, he was enjoying his second life. Now that he didn't have to feel pain anymore, but was also robbed of his ability to fly, he just might enjoy his life in Marbule, even if just a bit. The villagers certainly adored him, treating him like a god and sage. Maybe he really was one, always acting with so much dignity instead of being angry or aggravated like everyone else was at one point or the other.

Gazing at the small waves at her feet, Riddel wondered how long it would take them to cross the ocean and reach Marbule. It had taken them almost a week last time, mostly due to horrible weather. It was funny, how little humans were able to do, when in the end, it was still the nature reigning over them and not the other way around like so many were arrogantly thinking. In the end, the nature still decided where you went and what you did. She wondered what her father would think about this, he who had never really cared for nature at all and had always believed in the superiority of humans.

She wondered what he would think of her, now. Standing almost knee deep in the ocean, embraced by the person he would have never allowed her to be with, to be loved by. She had never had the chance to ask him, to see him reject or approve. He had been gone before she had been able to ask. Maybe, seeing them like this would simply make him laugh, due to the sheer irony of her life. She, who had been raised to be a fine lady, most probably to marry an equally rich suitor who happened to take her liking. Riddel knew that her father would have never thought her capable of leaving all of this behind, the money, the status, the special treatment, the needlessness to do anything. She knew her father would have never imagined her working like normal people, and even enjoying it. In the end, even though he probably had loved her, he hadn't known her. At all.

But then, she liked to think that he had wanted someone to stop him, for he hadn't been able to do it himself anymore. Maybe he even wanted her to do it, the daughter he loved. But wasn't it always like this, thinking better of dead people than one would if they were still alive? It was a kind of instinct mercy that made her wonder at times. She wondered where he was right now.

"Where do you think the others are, right now?", Riddel asked, breaking the long-stretching silence. Riddel sometimes thought that if it weren't for her talking all the time, Luccia could go without for days. It was strange, really.

"I think Kidd and Harle are still pirates.", Luccia answered, speaking _that_ name without a hint of anger or resentment. She didn't want it anymore. Four years ago, she had gone and visited Lucca's grave again. She had apologized to her for breaking her promise, but had also told her about how happy Kidd seemed to be with Harle. She had hoped Lucca to be happy to hear that, to hear that at least Kidd was doing well, then one Lucca had cared about the most.

Luccia knew it had been pathetic, going to the place that wasn't a real grave, for nothing of her had remained there, and talking to her. How unscientific. But it hadn't mattered then, and it still didn't. She would have to visit her again, some time. "As for Clair and Eve, I have no idea. I don't know them well enough to make assumptions.", she continued, a spark of regret in her voice.

She really didn't know them, apart from being honest and brave people. They hadn't met, in all those years. Everyone had needed their time to themselves, trying to deal with what had happened without having to think about all the others. Luccia understood it perfectly.

"I hope they're having a good time. Like we all deserve to have.", Riddel said, laying her hands onto Luccia's encircling arms.

Luccia gave an affirmative grunt, and placed her head onto Riddel's shoulder, inhaling the scent of her hair. She kissed the nape of her neck affectionately, and felt Riddel shudder ever so slightly, enjoying the touch as Luccia knew she would.

"Say it.", Riddel breathed, trying to suppress a moan as Luccia's hand travelled over her body.

"Ich liebe dich."

* * *

"Eve…", Clair moaned, thrusting her right hand forward to get her stone dagger into the ever-unrelenting sturdy surface of the cliff. "It's too high, I…can't do it." 

She was sweating and her hands were raw and almost numb with pain. Her legs quivered, both with weariness as well as trying hard not to slip on the sleek surface which hardly provided support even for her small feet. She wanted to disappear, right in that moment, and finally be done with this arduous task she knew would turn out to be utterly fruitless in the end. She genuinely hated mountain climbing, she knew this now.

"Just a little more.", Eve called down to her. Clair looked up and saw that they were at least ten metres apart. This fact frightened her more than she liked to admit, and she wished Eve were down here with her. But Eve wasn't, and this was solely a result of her not being able to keep up with her, as much as she liked to. Clair had to force herself not to look downward, into this abyss of swirling colours. They were already too high for her to properly define the outline of the shore. She couldn't say where it ended and where the wide ocean began. Not that it mattered. She brought herself to look upward. Eve was right, they were almost there, maybe fifty metres more to go. But still, the prospect of reaching the top did nothing to lessen the pain in her limbs. She would get Eve for this, definitely.

"I can't!", Clair shouted angrily, her energy to do so still very much unexpired. She needed help, and Eve was shrugging it off like it wouldn't cost her life if she were to let go out of sheer fatigue. She certainly wasn't about to let her off with a sad 'go on and leave me here, I'll manage somehow'.

She sighed in frustration. It had been an entirely stupid idea. Following a strange-looking treasure map that led them up a steep and uninviting mountain. She wondered about the existence of persons stupid enough to hide a treasure on top of one. It was impossible, and yet she had agreed with Eve, if just to please her eagerness. Clair still thought that they would have been better off taking the money from the queen.

She looked up again, and if she hadn't known better she would have thought the distance between her and Eve had grown. She was about to say something when Eve tossed one end of a rope down to her, the same kind she had currently bound around her stomach, which the other end tied to a stone dagger which was located within arm's reach above her.

"Forget about that other one and tie this around your waist.", Eve called, making Clair feel guilty through the unbelievable gentleness and patience in her voice. Eve always put up with her, no matter what.

Clair did as she was told, tying the new rope around her waist before loosening the other one which had steadied her so far. This steep cliff easily made her slip, and with any luck, the rope would hold her in case that happened. Clair had experienced this twice so far, and she had little desire to try her luck again. She honestly didn't have much confidence in security if it was installed by herself.

Eve watched Clair as she followed her instructions, nodding approvingly to herself. "Now, just try, okay?", she called down after Clair had finished. "I'll help, so it shouldn't be too hard."

Clair smiled at that, but as she looked up to Eve her look of gratefulness suddenly vanished. "Eve!", she yelled. "What's going to hold us now!"

Eve just laughed at Clair's worry, and to the latter's dismay loosened the grip on the cliff with her left hand to give her the victory sign. "Don't worry!", she shouted with a frighteningly cheery voice. "Just don't lose your footing now, it'll be difficult for me to hold both of us."

There she went again, laughingly pushing Clair into a bottomless hole of despair with almost obscene ease and insensitivity. She didn't even try to relieve her, instead frightening her to death. Eve was cruel like that. Clair couldn't help but laugh.

"I'll get you for that!", she yelled in between laughter, forgetting her aching limbs for a few blessed moments.

"Just try to get me.", Eve dared her with a grin before turning around to tackle the rest of the way. It wasn't that much of a climb after all.

Clair followed her example, trying to synchronize their steps to the best of her abilities and to her surprise, it really was easier than before, the rope around her waist tugging her upward.

Her relief was immense when she finally used the last bits of her strength to heave herself over the edge and lay down beside it, panting heavily.

"You're crazy.", she said, still catching her breath. Eve was kneeling beside her, and Clair clearly saw the drops of sweat trickling from her brows. Clair felt a tinge of guilt at the sight. She had been complaining all the time, when clearly Eve had had a hard time herself, even going so far as practically heaving her up here. But the feeling quickly vanished as Eve started to giggle, looking over to Clair with a proud grin.

"I didn't have a choice, did I? I couldn't have you dangling down there until the rope broke.", she said truthfully, and Clair smiled. "Besides, I would've hated to go all the way down again to pick you up once you fell."

The remark earned her a weak punch on the shoulder, but as she looked over to Clair, her eyes were closed.

"It was pretty hard getting up here, huh?", Eve asked and stood up again, looking down the cliff they had just climbed up. They had climbed a few hundred metres and Eve had the ugly premonition that her muscles would be terribly sore later. But that wasn't her biggest worry right now. They were here, finally.

"No kidding. I knew we should've taken the easy route.", Clair answered, somehow managing to sit up despite her body aching all over.

"The easy route you say. Said route would've taken us at least a whole day to get here, not counting the exhausting heat.", Eve answered, watching the ocean down below. It was dark and pretty when watched from high up. As she looked to the side she could clearly see Mt. Pyre and Fort Dragonia, the volcanoes surrounding it misting the sky with the steam that escaped their tops. "Just be glad we didn't have to climb up _there_.", she said as she took her heavy backpack off, enjoying the light feel of her shoulders.

Clair followed Eve's gaze and groaned. Climbing up an active volcano would have been even more crazy. The one they were on had become extinct long ago, but was still quite close to Mt. Pyre. That was the actual reason why they had decided to climb the volcano's steep side, which formed an for a volcano unlikely vertical cliff due to the lava having flowed directly into the ocean on this side, instead of choosing the theoretically easier route on the side which faced Mt. Pyre. But the heat close to it was incredible, and Clair would have constantly feared an eruption in which they would have no doubt having been caught up. She didn't like it, but she had to admit that Eve had been entirely right about their choice, even though it had been strenuous. Even though Clair didn't even want to think about moving any of her limbs at all within the next twelve hours or so.

"Hey, stand up and look!", Eve's cheery voice disrupted her pleasantness-yearning thoughts, and Clair lazily took Eve's hand to get up. When she turned to see what Eve was pointing at her breath stopped for a moment. She had expected a deep crater, maybe a hundred metres deep, but there was nothing like that. Instead, they faced a vast pool of water which Clair would have confused with an ordinary lake if it weren't for the fact of them being on top of a volcano and the extraordinary colour of the water.

"You've got to be kidding me. A lake? Here?", Clair said, completely stunned.

"Seems like the rain filled up the volcano.", Eve simply answered, just as surprised as Clair.

"Yeah, but…", Clair breathed, taking a few steps towards the lake, "look at this colour." She leaned down and gingerly touched the surface of the water, half expecting it to burn on her skin. But it was almost warm and soft, making her fingers feel funny when she rubbed them together under the surface.

"It's…intense.", Eve whispered, and also stepped closer. The water was blue but it seemed impossibly dense, so much that Eve could hardly see two metres beneath the surface. The water hardly reflected the bright sunlight and it seemed almost eerie.

"Don't tell me this is the spot.", Clair said doubtfully, remembering their goal.

Eve shook her head in surprise, remembering it as well. She turned to her backpack on the ground, and fumbled with a buckle to open it to take out a map from within.

"Um…", she started. Unsure about what to say, she looked from the map to the lake and back, nodding gravely. "I think it is. At least somewhere around here."

Clair turned abruptly to her, a look of anger on her face, untouched by her tiredness. "So you're saying that someone dragged a treasure chest with whatever efforts up here, and drowned it in this lake, where it cannot possibly be retrieved? Don't tell me you're really serious." The thought of having gone through all these pains, for nothing, made her feel sick.

"W-well…", Eve said, scratching the back of her head. "Don't worry, we'll find something for sure!", she exclaimed enthusiastically.

Clair hung her head at Eve's hopefulness. She stared into the water, but her face didn't reflect on its surface. "Forget it.", she said, pointing to the lake directly in front of her. "If there's something in there, its way too deep down. What a waste."

She turned around to Eve to complain, but something hit her back and she lost her balance, falling face first into the water of the lake. She gasped, but quickly closed her mouth again as the water dreaded to flow in. It took her a few seconds to get her bearings underwater and reach the surface again. But when she did Eve was laughing hysterically, holding both of her arms in front of her stomach as if to keep it from bursting.

"What was that for?", Clair spouted, parting her hair like a curtain before her face. She swam over to the edge and extended her arm towards a still laughing Eve. "At least help me out."

Eve grinned and took her hand, but as she was about to pull her out of the water, Clair pushed her feet against the wall, causing Eve to fall into the water as well. Clair was glad Eve had taken off her backpack, or otherwise she would have drowned in an instant.

Clair climbed out of the water before Eve was able to react, laughingly standing at the edge and waiting for her to reappear. Eve only deserved it. With a smirk she held her breath, curious to see how long it would take Eve to get out. However, she watched with increasing worry as the air in her lungs slowly ran out without any sign of Eve whatsoever. The surface of the water was almost perfectly calm again, and after waiting ten more seconds after having started to breathe again, Clair jumped into the water.

She didn't like the idea of opening her eyes in this mineral-heavy water, but did it nonetheless in search for Eve. Her sight was close to zero though, even with her eyes wide open. She couldn't see her anywhere, although her ears soon felt a pressure as though she was at least ten metres under water. Against her will she had to dive back up, taking in the air in big gasps as soon as she reached the surface.

Eve had to be somewhere. Without thinking about any possibilities, she took a deep breath and prepared to dive again when she felt warm arms circling around her.

"Gotcha.", Eve breathed from behind her, and Clair immediately turned around, her face flushed with both excitement and surprise.

"You scared me, you know.", Clair whispered, her voice trembling unwillingly.

Eve chuckled at that, and swam with Clair, who clung to her, over to the edge of the lake. "You're the one who pulled me into the lake in the first place."

Clair felt the relaxing wall of stone behind her, knowing that she could get out of the lake at any moment. Swimming in the middle of the lake had made her uneasy. She didn't trust her tired limbs enough.

"Well, _you're_ the one who pushed me in first for no reason at all.", Clair retorted, but couldn't resist a smile at the sight of Eve directly in front of her. She steadied herself with her hands on the edge beneath Clair, her grin even visible through the wet blonde tresses that hung all over her face. Clair thought she'd look a little like a drowned kitten, if it weren't for that impossible smile.

"Touché.", Eve said and chuckled. "But you have to admit that the water feels kind of nice." She touched the wet strands on her face and felt their soapy texture. Their legs occasionally touched under water as they tried to keep their owners afloat, which wasn't too hard since the water seemed to carry them almost effortlessly.

"It _would_ be kind of nice if our clothes weren't completely soaked. It would have been better to take them off, but you just had to push me in without warning.", Clair said in fake seriousness as she looked down at herself, noticing that her thin light blue shirt had almost become transparent, while Eve's crimson one hadn't.

"Well, if you so insist…", Eve said with a suddenly daring voice and Clair felt the presence of Eve's hands on her hips, slowly moving upwards while tugging the hem of her shirt with them.

"W-well…", Clair said quickly, grabbing Eve's impertinent hands. Eve just smiled knowingly at Clair's defensiveness. "It's too late now, they are already wet…"

While Clair was still forming an excuse, Eve's hands quickly struggled free from Clair's limitations and removed the shirt with one swift movement. She threw the wet bundle in her hand about two metres away from them where it met the dry ground with a smack.

Clair immediately opened her mouth to protest, but was silenced by Eve's finger on her lips.

"Don't worry. It'll be dry by the time I'm finished with you." With that, Eve removed her finger with a smirk only to replace it with her lips which met Clair's with passion.

Clair was taken aback at first, but soon melted into Eve, snaking her arms around her back. She still wasn't used to it, being like this with Eve so openly and naturally. It had taken them so long to realize the true depth of their feelings for each other, even after all that had happened. It had taken so long, but Clair didn't mourn one single day she had spent making teasing remarks to Eve that had caused her to blush ever so often. She didn't regret one single day that had passed with her subtle advances, trying so hard to let her know, but at the same time wanting to have her realize herself.

She had been patient, maybe because she had known that Eve would get it someday, and maybe because she had known that they had all the time in the world. For nothing was ever able to part them. But she had wanted one thing above all: For Eve to kiss her, like this, because she wanted to with all her heart. As long as Clair had those lips all for herself, she didn't need anything else.

Except of those hands maybe, which touched her so gently, so lovingly, trailing her skin in the warm water as softly and carefully as a painter would, stroking the canvas with lush colours and admiration of what he was about to create.

Admiration. It was the secret feeling she wanted to receive, and which Eve never failed to present her with. It was the ecstatic feeling of Eve's admiring hands on her bare skin, her legs, her arms, her face, touching it not because of its beauty, but because it was real. It was the way how Eve's eyes trembled faintly whenever the realization hit her that everything they did was real, and not just a dream that chose to vanish once the light of day intruded to chase it away.

It was this realization Clair wanted to see, over and over again.

'I hope you're never finished with me.', was Clair's sole thought as she completely succumbed to Eve and her loving caresses.

They forgot about the treasure and the entirety of their other worries completely until they found themselves lying on the ground beside the lake, hoping for the last rays of sun to dry their clothes, which they both knew wouldn't happen. But it was warm, and they had gotten used to the clingy feeling on their skin.

"It'll never dry like this.", Clair remarked nonetheless, the fingers of her left hand tugging meekly at Eve's wet shirt which made a funny sound as it disengaged itself from where it had been glued to Eve's stomach. They were lying closely together, and Clair had her head on Eve's shoulder.

"Neither will this.", Eve answered lazily. She lay on her back and looked upwards to the slowly darkening sky. She pointed into the direction where she knew lay Clair's shirt, probably every bit as wet as before due to its bundled-up state. Neither of them cared.

"We'll freeze up here then, once the night comes and the temperatures fall.", Clair said jokingly and watched Eve turn her head to her. "Oh well. I guess dying is still better than having to live through the torture of climbing down again.", she huffed, seeing Eve's expression darken for a short moment until she felt the other woman's hand on her waist, tickling her. Clair tried to ignore it, but all too soon burst into laughter, mixed with squeals.

"Now pull yourself together.", Eve said in between her attacks. "You're a knight, aren't you?"

Clair laughed only harder at this question. "You know I only accepted that title because of you." She looked at Eve as though it was perfectly obvious.

"So you would have declined if I had?", Eve asked with a knowing smirk, which soon vanished as she saw Clair thinking about that question.

"Well...I guess I would still have taken it because it sounds cool.", Clair responded and shrugged, but quickly broke into giggles as Eve's hands returned to their previous task.

"Betraying me like this…", Eve whispered dangerously as she intensified her tickling. "I guess this punishment is hardly enough for what you have done."

Clair tried to stop her laughing to concentrate on Eve's roaming hands, and finally got a hold of them.

"Oh come on, it's not like we're actually doing what knights are supposed to do.", Clair said earnestly, but couldn't keep her lips from tugging upwards at the sight of Eve's pouting face.

"But we're treasure hunters!", Eve exclaimed as though it was the same as being a knight.

"Yeah, just pretend that it isn't a kid's version of pirates.", Clair said sarcastically and gave Eve a quick peck on the cheek before standing up. She went over to the backpack Eve had carried with her, and retrieved a blanket from it which she slung around her bare shoulders. Then she took her still soaked shirt from the ground and shook it a few times before spreading it out.

By the time she had finished, Eve had also stood up and walked closer to the edge. She looked down onto the ocean and pointed at it. "Speaking of which…", she started and glanced over to Clair to see if she was listening, then continued. "Isn't that them?"

Clair came as close to edge as she dared to, then shook her head. "No, I think their ship is a bit smaller. The flag does seem similar though.", she commented with a hint of disappointment. It would have been good to see them again, if only from this high up.

On the contrary to what she had said, she was actually glad not to be a pirate. It would have been nice to be with Kidd and Harle still, but in the end, she preferred to follow her own orders, or at least those imposed on her by Eve after long discussions. Never being sure of what was behind the orders given to them, Clair wouldn't have been able to stand it anymore. And also, she was glad that being a treasure hunter hardly ever included fighting. In fact, they hardly ever used took their weapons with them, leaving them at the several inns and hotels they frequently used. As treasure hunters, they didn't exactly compete with others, didn't steal from anyone but those who were long dead and left behind treasures they had been sure no one would ever find.

Eve liked to think of it as the easiest way to make money, but in reality, Clair knew that Eve put a lot of efforts in it, continuously tracking down a variety of maps, letters or legends which in some way or the other dealt with treasures. It was hard, but Clair had to admit that they hadn't especially been unsuccessful so far in finding about anything varying from ordinary treasure chests filled with gold to valuable accessories and strange relics they didn't really know the purpose of, but managed to sell to collectors nonetheless. They weren't exactly poor despite their utterly simplistic lifestyle, as Clair tended to call it. But the sad truth was that even after four years, they hadn't been able to accumulate enough money to finally buy this cursed house at the beach they had been aiming for ever since.

Of course Eve, being unfeasibly optimistic in every way imaginable, always spoke of them being close to their goal, but to Clair, it seemed like a couple of light-years away still. Which wasn't so bad in retrospect, for she didn't want to think of a life that consisted of doing nothing at the sole expense of the house they wanted. At least not yet. So, despite whining all the time over the hopeless situations they seemed to get in, she was glad. Glad that she could still enjoy this, with Eve.

"It must be nice being down there…", Clair sighed, still depressed at the thought of climbing all the way down again after the sun rose the next day. It felt as if they had come up here for the sole purpose of taking a dip, even though she did admit that the water had felt kind of nice. "Do you suppose I would survive it if I just leapt down and dove into the water?"

Eve chuckled at that, prodding Clair with her elbow. "I guess it depends on whether you can survive with a broken neck and various other shattered bones."

"I'm really tough, you know.", Clair answered with a superior voice and crossed her arms in front of her face with a proud smile.

"Well, see you tomorrow, then.", Eve said with a grin as she patted Clair's shoulder and walked away from the cliff. "Just try to land somewhere near the shore, I'd hate to swim far out into the ocean to get you."

"Now you're being mean. I'm trying to find solutions here.", Clair replied with a fake pout.

"Solutions?", Eve asked with a raised eyebrow. "I would think you're trying to tell me in a not-so-subtle way that this is all my fault."

Clair laughed brightly at this accusation. "You just look right through me, don't you?", she asked teasingly, not even trying to defend herself. She received a mock glare from Eve, but just shrugged and sat down, watching the sun slowly disappear over the horizon. It was a nice view, even though the sky was clouded and some clouds looked rather uninviting. Eve came to sit down beside her, a blanket around her shoulders.

"You think there'll be a storm?", she asked. The hairs on her arms stood up and she could feel the electricity in the air. She liked this feeling, the tingling on her skin. It was as if the air charged her.

"Looks like it. You know it would be just our luck if it happened to rain and thunder tomorrow.", Clair said, not giving up her pessimistic view on things so easily.

"You're looking for excuses again.", Eve countered, but smiled shortly after. "How about we just make a flag of these blankets and have Randal and the others come save us? I know they're waiting for this." It was a joke, but Clair's face nevertheless lit up at the suggestion.

"They have a good reason to worry about us.", Clair answered, causing Eve to huff. "They look after us like little kids.", Eve remarked.

"See? I told you.", Clair said and laughed. She wondered where Randal and his men were right now, she knew they weren't far. They were always somewhere close. Clair had started to think of them as protectors, but they seemed more like stalkers now that she really thought about it. They had made jokes about "incidentally" meeting up every so often, which Randal still swore was the case. But Clair knew that the chances of meeting them all the time, whether they were in Guardia, Porre or on some deserted isle of El Nido were slim. It wasn't that she minded, it was just funny to think that they didn't seem to have anything else to do aside from following them around.

But then, she was glad to see him so often, and even though she knew the ugly scar on the left side of Randal's face was her doing, her guilt became smaller and smaller each time they met, each time they joked as if nothing had happened at all. Maybe she hadn't liked him before, but he had become a dear friend to both of them over time. She wouldn't want to miss him.

Sometimes she still wondered how he and most of the other Viper soldiers had managed to escape the sinking ship and actually managed to stay afloat with twenty men on life boats designed for ten, but them living was the only proof of its viability she needed. It was a good feeling to be forgiven.

"Let's stay here.", Clair said, watching the dark clouds condense before her, forming one thick wall of grey.

"There you go again.", Eve sighed but smiled nonetheless. "Just because we didn't find anything doesn't mean the whole trip was a waste. We gained a lot."

Clair tore her eyes from the clouds and looked at Eve with a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah? What did we gain?"

Eve chuckled at Clair's usual scepticism. "Well…", she started, pointing her finger backwards. "We gained a pool with beautiful water just for the both of us with no one to disturb us." Her finger moved forward again. "We're sitting in the first row to watch the upcoming storm." Her hand touched Clair's leg and traced it down to her calves. "We gained strength, endurance, and experience which will come in handy in the future. Do you still call this trip a waste?" She looked over to Clair, who had her eyes closed as if in thought. She looked serious, but the faint smile on her lips was a dead give-away.

"This still won't buy us a house, though.", Clair said, prepared for the shove in her side she received shortly afterward.

"The grandest things you can't buy with money.", Eve said sternly as if lecturing the woman next to her.

"Which are?", Clair asked, giving in to the grin that spread over her face. She turned her head away as if bored.

"Me, for example.", Eve replied, poking Clair's back to have her look at her again. "Isn't that enough to ask for?"

"True, but I have you already. So there's nothing important left which money can't buy. Which means this trip was a waste after all, because I'm sure I can do without the experience of mountain climbing or strong legs like an amazon.", Clair said, giggling as she saw Eve covering her face with her hands.

"Oh I give up!", Eve shouted and broke into laughter. "You're impossible." She leaned back and lay down, eyeing Clair.

"Took you long enough to realize.", Clair replied with a laugh.

"Alright, I lost. What do I owe you?", Eve asked as if bored, but her face soon lit up at the variety of possibilities.

"Oh no, nothing like that.", Clair giggled as she saw Eve's lewd expression. Eve really was hopeless, sometimes.

"I guess I could do with a nice massage, though." She dangled her legs before her, enjoying the thought of having them massaged. "Without it, I guess my sore muscles will make it impossible for me to climb down tomorrow."

"Well, if my humble skills will be sufficient, I shall aid you to prevent this from happening.", Eve said in the voice of a gentleman, and crawled on top of Clair who had turned to lie on her stomach.

"Where to start, miss?", she asked and rubbed her hands together.

"Hm…", Clair purred, thinking. "Where would you like to start?"

Eve considered this invitation for a few moments, her eyes glittering momentarily. Her right index finger trailed teasingly down Clair's spine, causing the body beneath her to shudder. Eve smiled at this achievement and intended to save this memory for later occasions, then started with Clair's shoulders.

As she touched both of Clair's shoulders, the skin under her hands twitched and as she began to move them, it felt hard and stiff beneath her grasp, but also strengthened. Maybe it had been a little too hard, after all. Eve knew, that despite of her superior battling skills, Clair's constitution was a good deal weaker than hers and Eve hadn't expected her to climb this volcano with the same ease as she had. Maybe they should have chosen the other way, because even though Eve didn't like to think of the excruciating heat there, she was almost sure that Clair wouldn't mind the heat as much as long as the overall strain on her arms and legs was lessened. She needed to think about this alternative.

Finally Clair's stiff and sore muscles on her shoulders succumbed to Eve's hands and relaxed, and Eve's temporary feelings of guilt vanished along with it, softly being kneaded away by her own hands. To finish with this part, Eve leaned down to plant two kisses on each side, feeling the skin contracting shortly before relaxing even more than before.

"Feeling any better already?", she breathed into Clair's ear while her head was still dipped down. It was a rhetorical question and Clair simply purred in response, not wanting to spoil the moment with unnecessary words. Her mind settled back on Eve's hands, which by now were occupied with her lower back.

To her surprise, Eve actually enjoyed doing this, feeling the skin beneath her hands relax because of her doing. It wasn't that she felt completely useless, but it was a reassuring thought to be able to do this to Clair. To at least remove the strain she herself had put onto her. And for Clair to enjoy it, making up for her earlier pleas to be freed from the heavy task of mountain climbing. It was a pleasant feeling to know that she could do at least this much.

She quit her work on Clair's back as she felt the skin soft and warm beneath her fingertips, relaxed to the point of not even reacting to the kiss she placed on the centre of Clair's lower back.

With one last approving gaze at Clair's backside, Eve turned around to face her bare legs. As she touched them she felt them tremble. They were more sensitive than her back, and Eve took care to massage them gently.

They were just as stiff as her back, and as she traced her fingers along them she could feel the hard and overworked muscles beneath her skin tense. It had really been difficult for her, and all of a sudden Clair's continuous complaints seemed more than justified in comparison. Eve idly wondered what her own muscles felt like. They didn't hurt, but she could feel they were tired. She hoped they wouldn't hurt too much the next day.

Eve shrugged these thoughts off as she continued to massage Clair's legs. She found them wet, and looked up to the sky too see that the thick and dark clouds were now right above them. It had started raining, but instead of running down her legs, the raindrops seemed to get sucked into her skin like a drop of water into desert sand. A small movement of Clair's legs brought Eve out of her sudden fascination, and she quickly and efficiently eased the tension in her legs and turned back around to face Clair.

"You can turn around now.", she said and got up slightly to allow Clair to turn to lie on her back.

"It's raining.", Clair noted, as if she hadn't noticed before.

"Your skin doesn't seem to mind.", Eve said with a smile as she caught a raindrop on her fingertip and let it drop onto Clair's cheek. It tried to escape downward, but only made it one or two inches before it seeped into the skin.

"I never mind the rain.", Clair answered, licking her newly-dampened lips to taste the rain which threatened to come down harder with each drop. "It brings back memories."

Eve eyed her curiously, thinking for a few moments until Clair could see a small sparkle in the other woman's eyes. "Do you mean…_that_ time?", Eve asked. Instead of answering, Clair just nodded.

"Something's different, though.", Eve remarked with a grin. "I'm on top now."

"Don't get too used to it.", Clair countered. "But I'm glad that at least the ground isn't muddy."

They both chuckled at that, until Eve interrupted with a gentle kiss, silencing them both. When she drew back, she could see Clair's damp eyes, and for a moment thought she was about to cry.

"Did you know that I wanted to kiss you so badly, back then?", Clair asked, her voice slightly wavering.

"Why didn't you?", Eve questioned, leaning in for another quick kiss.

To her surprise, Clair simply laughed at the question. "What would you have done?"

Eve was slightly taken aback by the question, because really, she didn't know. Clair immediately recognized Eve's confused look. "I think you would've flushed beet red and tried to get me off you with any means available. Isn't that right?" A knowing smirk spread over Clair's lips as she watched Eve in her feeble attempt to think of an answer.

"I wouldn't have done something like that!", Eve said firmly, but wavered. "Would I?"

"Well, at the very least you would have been too shocked to appreciate it.", Clair answered and moved her right hand upward to stroke Eve's cheek. "You were so innocent, you didn't think of such things back then, didn't you?"

"I guess.", Eve complied with a sigh, but then dipped her head so that their lips were almost touching. "To make up for what I missed back then, kiss me like you wanted to, right in that moment.", she breathed and parted her lips slightly. Before she knew what was happening though, her head was in the firm grasp of Clair's hands, tugged downward to meet Clair's hot red lips in a kiss that took her breath away with its intensity.

The next day, they felt horrible due to a night spend in the rain, but were sure the hot course along Mt. Pyre would burn away whatever traces of flu were forming in their bodies. Even when they collapsed in front of Randal and the others, who had indeed been waiting for them, a silly smile was still plastered onto their faces. Randal wondered how these two would ever get money being reckless like that. He didn't know a thing. For through everything they did, they gained so much more than money could ever buy.

* * *

She had been waiting for two hours already, standing in the same place, the tapping of her foot having gained considerable force with every passing minute. It simply wasn't her day. Under different circumstances, she wouldn't have minded the wait and found something to occupy herself with. Not today. 

The rain was coming down hard, and even though she didn't particularly mind the wetness, she did mind the coldness that came with it. They should have never left El Nido and its warm embrace. She missed it a little.

She felt a sudden shove and a "sorry!" which followed directly afterward, and turned to see one more figure trying to fit under the entrance roof of Porre's biggest clothing shop, which was painfully slim compared to the actual size of the building. She should just go inside, but this wasn't only the biggest one of its kind, it was also the most expensive one. And Harle wasn't in the mood of wasting money for overpriced and, compared to her own albeit soaked ones, plain clothes. She wasn't in the mood for much at all, she knew. The day had been tiring, and utterly wasted. It hadn't even been fun.

She left the cover of the roof in search of a spot that wasn't as crowded and noisy, but was only able to locate a thin alley between two high buildings just across the street. It was well enough, she would still be able to see the shop from there.

Upon reaching the narrow alley, she leaned against the wall. She didn't like this city. It was crowded, noisy, dirty and overall unpleasant. It had been a silly idea to settle down here. For the first time that day, Harle was glad that she hadn't found a suitable apartment today. She doubted she had the will to continue the search the next day. They should leave Porre. It was nice for visiting, but being in the rain here was no fun at all. She didn't want to live here.

"Hey, miss.", a voice disturbed her thoughts, and as Harle turned around, the nauseating smell of too much alcohol and not barely enough mouth care greeted her. She instinctively stepped backward, then scanned the foreign figure in front of her. It seemed like an old man, but Harle wasn't sure if the thin hair and stubbly beard were any indication. The more obvious fact was that he was drunk, and if his clothes were anything to go by, poor also.

"What's a lady…like ya doin' 'ere?", he asked with obvious difficulty. Talking seemed to be almost too hard for him in his state. It was appalling.

"Zat'z none of your concern, monsieur.", Harle replied with as much gentleness as she could muster in her already annoyed state, which was dreadfully few.

"Oh, that's harsh.", the man said as if hurt, but Harle just frowned. He couldn't be serious. "I was jus' gonna ask ya fer some money ta spare…", he continued in a slurred sentence which seemed to fuse the words together in a way that made Harle strain to understand them.

"Moi iz sorry, but wasting money on people such az yourself is not one of mon most favourite pasttimez.", Harle answered with a bored expression, trying out the rude way to get rid of annoying people. She was sure that in his state, he would fail to catch any amount of subtlety.

To her mild surprise, the man laughed, or at least Harle hoped it was laughter, for it sounded more like an alarming fit of coughs and chokes. Not that she cared.

"I like girls like ya, knowing what they want.", he then said, and his voice sounded strangely clear all of a sudden. "But I fear I can't let ya go just like that."

Even though Harle hadn't seen it coming, she was prepared for potential attacks and stepped back swiftly as the man reached for her wrist, as a result missing it by a hair's width.

Harle groaned inwardly at the situation she had gotten herself into. Now there didn't seem any other way to end this without one of them unconscious, and Harle had, without being overly self-confident, a fairly good idea who that one would turn out to be. Thus it didn't faze her as the now quite sober man unsheathed a dagger which he had taken out of his dirty coat which spotted various burned spots and cuts.

"And here I thought I would find a nice young lady willing to donate a few G to a poor man. But it seems the people nowadays know no mercy. I think I have no choice but to follow that unfortunate example." Now that he spoke so clearly, Harle could hear that he was actually quite young, the creases on his face and the thin hair being only a result of his poor living conditions which caused him to look way beyond his years. The self-confident smile he wore lit up his face and gave away the enthusiasm and self-righteousness often found in younger people. Harle kept her calm expression, only moving to show a knowing smile. She didn't take out her cards, she was sure to end this without them.

"Moi doez have mercy on ze pauvre, mais not on ze stupide.", she said and saw with amusement how his grin fell and was promptly replaced by a look of scorn. He wouldn't be able to lay a finger on her.

"You're pretty cocky, lady.", he said with as much of a threatening voice he could muster, seeing how he was about to attack her with a cheap dagger which wasn't much more than a rusty kitchen knife to Harle. "That's why I hate rich people."

He charged her weakly, obviously being new to the art of fighting. Harle simply sidestepped, giving him a firm shove in the back that sent him stumbling forward. "Et moi hatez insolent guyz who don't know how to ask a mademoiselle pour un faveur."

Again, the man just laughed, and Harle wondered if he had taken note of obviously being the weaker one. He charged her again, in exactly the same fashion as before. "You'd be surprised how often the 'I'm a drunkard, give me some money to get rid of me'-route actually works. Hardly anyone has enough morals left to care about an ordinary homeless man. They aren't annoying, so there's no need to pay them to get rid of them. That's how you people think, isn't it?" He was shouting by now, but Harle knew that his voice was entirely drowned by the surrounding sounds of countless people on the streets just a few metres away from the narrow alley they were standing in. She was probably the only one to hear him.

"Isn't it?", he asked again upon receiving no answer from Harle. She had to admit that he had a point, but it was especially people like him who got on her nerves the most. They didn't get it. They didn't understand that there was a life beyond mere money. Harle had lived the biggest part of her life without money, and yet, she had always gotten what she had needed. Money alone couldn't help people.

"No, it iz not. Moi simply haz no sympathy pour t'ose who give up easily.", Harle responded truthfully. She knew that neither lies nor the truth would get her out of this argument any sooner, so she might as well stick with the truth.

Men like him were really pathetic. Thinking begging and robbing is the only way left for a healthy and relatively strong man, who by all means should be more than capable to take care of himself. But stealing without even the slightest hint of style, it was annoying. Harle knew there were a thousand ways of stealing which were far more effective and didn't cause any victims. After all, aren't they after the money? So why should they take the owner's health, as well? They had no use for it, obviously.

"Just you wait.", the man growled dangerously, but just as he was about to attack again, he felt a tapping on his shoulders, accompanied by a female voice.

"Oi, s'cuse me-", she said and for a moment the man was so startled that he lost the grip on his dagger. Nevertheless he instantly turned around, and even without so much as looking at the cause of the disturbance, he flung his right fist at the unfamiliar face, intending to get rid of it without delay.

Harle smiled, but the smile quickly turned into a grimace as she saw the man's fist crashing into Kidd's stunned face. Kidd hadn't seen it coming so instantly. Harle clenched her fist to suppress the sudden urge to beat the man in front of her senseless. He obviously didn't suspect whom he was dealing with. It had started out as fun, but Harle should have known that fun just didn't seem to be available for her today.

She was about to attack when she saw Kidd's grinning face. Despite the force of the impact, she hadn't stumbled backward, and still stood in the same place, the only change being the thin line of blood dripping from her bottom lip and the quickly reddening spot on her cheek.

"And here I thought I couldn't hit ya without an excuse.", she said and lifted her left hand to touch the newly added bruise. It hardly hurt. Her face didn't change in the least when her right fist shot forward and punched squarely into the man's face without him being able to react. He fell backward, instantly clutching his profusely bleeding nose. "But I guess this counts as self-defence.", Kidd added, looking down at him.

The man didn't stir, staring at Kidd as if frozen. Only when Kidd stepped closer and attempted to kick him did he get up and run away, passing Harle without another glance at her.

After the echoing of his rapid footsteps grew dimmer, Harle let out a sigh.

"What did he want?", Kidd asked, looking around for any traces of what might have happened.

"He wanted money.", Harle replied offhandedly, worrying more about the bruise the man had inflicted on her. She stepped closer to Kidd and softly traced the outline of her jaw.

"Doez it hurt?", she asked, kissing the spot tenderly. She should have just knocked this ugly man out at the beginning, instead of playing with him. This bruise was partly her fault.

"Not anymore.", Kidd answered truthfully and smiled. It hadn't particularly hurt in the first place, but Harle's kisses tended to make everything better, even if it concerned such small wounds. "So he wanted money, huh? I take it ya didn't give him any?", she asked, changing the topic back to the man she had chased away a few moments ago.

"Of courze moi didn't.", Harle replied with an annoyed look. "He could have at leazt have ze décence to steal it wit'out moi noticing." She honestly didn't care all that much about money, but she did care about how other people treated her. And the one thing she hated was to be taken for a fool.

"True.", Kidd said and smirked. "The thugs nowadays have a lot ta learn."

"Not from you, I hope.", Harle said with a mock frown which caused Kidd to chuckle. They made their way out of the alley and onto the main street again, not minding the still ongoing rain.

"Nah.", she replied and waved it off. "It's been fun while it lasted, but I'd better stop now before I start ta develop a bad conscience. I'm gettin' bloody soft lately." She laughed while saying it, but was actually a little worried. Was she really getting too old for this? I didn't matter all that much, for they still had enough money to last them another couple of years if they didn't waste it. There was no necessity to steal anything.

"Which izn't such un bad t'ing entièrement.", Harle laughed and pressed Kidd's hand affectionately.

"I guess not. But still, it's kinda sad ta know I've grown outta my bratty old self. Guess Lucca was right after all. Except of the 'beautiful young lady' thing.", Kidd said, smiling as she remembered the letter Luccia had given her back when she had still followed Serge around. She still treasured this last letter of her, and kept it hidden from anyone's eyes but her own. Even Harle hadn't seen it. But it was a silent understanding between Harle and her that it was something for Kidd alone, something too personal to share. And if Kidd was honest with herself, she doubted that Harle had any desire to see it. Both of them didn't like to think about this aspect of their past. "But I know someone who makes up for that.", she added and kissed Harle's cheek, taking her mind off such unpleasant thoughts. At the sight of Harle's face, she knew that the day had already been hard enough.

"How was yer day, by the way?", she asked as she lead them across the street, into a direction Harle didn't know, but didn't raise any questions either way.

"Complètement terrible.", Harle sighed in response, her voice both tired and annoyed at the thought of all the time she had wasted today. "Porre iz no good."

"Thought so.", Kidd agreed, not surprised that Harle felt the same. Porre sure had its charms, but there were just so many things that didn't agree with her. It was loud and noisy, expensive, and upon closer look, pretty dirty. It was a beautiful city all right, but this wasn't what Kidd and Harle were looking for in a city they were about to live in. There were just too many things missing. "Honestly, those apartments I looked at today…even our bloody ship looked better.", Kidd told Harle, who just nodded in understanding.

The various apartments and houses Harle had visited today had been less than appealing on top of being expensive to the degree of being downright exorbitant. Harle hadn't guessed how much of a change they would have to face after quitting the pirate business. She was glad they had, but even though she didn't like to admit it, it was hard to get accustomed to this new and suddenly complicated lifestyle so different from the life of pirate's. After four years, it was hard not to miss the 'freedom' they had enjoyed.

Even though they had chased only after one goal in all those four years, they had retained a certain level of freedom to quit and do whatever they liked to. Even though they had searched every corner of El Nido for the third relic they still knew so little about, they had known that the choice of continuing or quitting was solely their own. They had ultimately quit and given up on being pirates. They had just wanted to do this favour for the captain, to find the third relic and dispose of it, if just to let him sleep more peacefully, but it wasn't to be.

They had never hated or even questioned him, even if, in the end, it had been his request to steal the Blazing Heart which had brought them into the mess with Viper in the first place. It had been his selfish request to find it for him, just so that he could drown it in the ocean, to fulfil a promise he had made to an old friend. Kidd still didn't know if she could actually believe that story, but she had stopped to care. The Blazing Heart was gone at any rate, and to her it didn't matter through which means it had disappeared. The ominous third relic worried her more, and she didn't like to think of it in the wrong hands. With no clues on it however it had been impossible to locate, and they had been forced to give up on their quest to find it.

Kidd sighed. They had left all this behind now. They weren't pirates anymore, so such things didn't concern them. At least Kidd had to tell herself this, while Harle seemed to have no such problem to simply forget about it. It was a simple matter of priorities, and Kidd knew Harle cherished their relatively normal life from now on far more than any old relic they knew nothing about. Maybe she simply relied on the others to find it, if by intent or accident. Harle herself had enough other things on her mind, Kidd could see.

"Oh well, let's just go somewhere else tomorrow. No need hangin' 'round here any longer than necessary. Just wastin' money.", Kidd suggested, but was greeted with an unexpectedly strange look from Harle.

"Exzactly _where_ are we going, mon amour?", she asked, doubting that Kidd would come up with a satisfying answer.

And indeed, Kidd just looked at her with a blank expression, unable to find an instant answer. "Anywhere ya like ta go, I guess.", she finally answered, knowing full well that it was little more than an excuse. Harle sighed, not bothering to reprimand her. She would have to think about that over the night. Decent hotel rooms eating away their money with frightening ease and speed had to give some sort of inspiration. Maybe she should have simply enjoyed these three days in Porre a little more, instead of thinking non-stop about where to live.

"Oi, stop broodin' already. I'll think of somethin', alright? Don't ya worry.", Kidd said suddenly cheery, clapping Harle's back for further emphasis. Harle just shrugged, and it wasn't lost on Kidd that Harle talked less than usual.

"Just…don't think 'bout it now.", she tried again, lifting Harle's chin with her index finger before leaning down to the smaller woman to kiss her softly. She wouldn't have Harle in a bad mood all evening, when they haven't seen each other all day. Searching separately had been a pretty useless idea in the first place, now that she thought about it. "Let's just enjoy dinner."

Harle frowned at her, but the prospect of dinner did tug at the corners of her mouth. She hadn't had anything to eat since breakfast that morning. "Where?", she asked, noting how they must have walked quite far away from the restaurant Harle remembered from the previous night.

"Right here.", Kidd said and smiled as she took hold of Harle's shoulders to turn her around. Obviously Harle had been brooding too much to realize they were standing right in front of one.

The restaurant was quite plain, lacking the air of expensiveness and elite that was so predominant throughout the whole town while at the same time not looking too cheap and shabby. It was the kind of restaurant where you could simply enjoy eating without being annoyed by misbehaving customers around you but at the same time not earning accusing glares when you came in with casual clothes. Which was an aspect that Kidd held in high regard.

"Oh, zis one.", Harle said. She wouldn't have thought to ever see this restaurant again. But here she was, and the events of this place still left a bad taste. She had gone a little far, back then. A little too far to not regret it now, but it couldn't be helped. She would have to try to laugh about it. Monique, huh? Such a silly name it had been, too.

"Ya know it?", Kidd asked curiously, snapping her fingers. "And here I thought I could surprise ya."

"You did. Moi didn't expect zis restaurant.", Harle reassured her with a smile. "Let'z go inside."

Kidd was a little stunned, but followed Harle inside. And indeed, the interior looked quite appealing without any unnecessary décor. Kidd had always wondered what the problem with blank walls was, that everyone felt they had to hide it with sappy pictures. If painted with the right colour, it could look fine on its own, couldn't it? Which had led Kidd to think that the wall hidden under layers of pictures had to look horrible.

The clearing of Harle's throat broke her train of thought and caused her to avert her eyes from the wall and sit down at a small table for two people, opposite of Harle.

As expected by Harle, Kidd immediately took the menu to browse through it, while Harle had a pretty good idea of what she would be taking. She remembered that she didn't get to order anything the last time she was here. She had been gone even before finishing the cocktail.

Kidd was still studying the menu when the waitress appeared at their table. Harle, seeing how Kidd needed a little more time, ordered first. She granted herself the luxury of ordering a big salad, something she had heavily missed those last years. Being a pirate didn't involve salads. In fact, it didn't involve many nutrient foods aside from ordinary apples, which Harle had soon grown sick of. A salad was the biggest luxury she could think of right now.

The waitress didn't notice Harle's enjoyment and wrote the order on her notepad before turning to Kidd, who still struggled between two equally meat-heavy dishes and ended up taking the worse of both, in Harle's opinion.

Kidd's eyes followed the waitress until she got out of sight, before turning to Harle. "So…", she said, leaning closer as if telling her a secret. "What about Truce?"

The question came out of the blue, and Harle was surprised that it was actually Kidd who suggested it. She had thought that Kidd, of all people, would just hate to live in a small, and probably altogether uneventful village.

"Are you sure you want to live zere?", Harle asked dubiously, not quite believing it yet.

"Why not? Weren't you the one tellin' me how nice the people there are? I think it'll be nice to live there again. I loved it back when I was a kid. And if it gets too boring, we can always go somewhere else.", Kidd said eagerly, enjoying the thought of Truce more than she had expected to only a few moments ago. It did seem like the perfect choice, at least for now.

Harle took some minutes to think about it. It wasn't that Truce had entirely slipped her mind until now, but she had tried not to think about it too much. Kidd said they could simply go elsewhere, but Harle knew they wouldn't be able to once they settled down there. Not after what Harle had planned, and thought about for so long. But was she really ready for this? It meant giving up so much.

"Let'z t'ink about it.", was the only answer Harle could give just now, and was grateful for the distraction when the waitress came back with their dishes.

"Alright, but no more of that frown, now.", Kidd said and smirked, causing Harle to do the same in response.

"D'accord.", she said, then regarded the plate in front of her with newfound enthusiasm. Maybe she really shouldn't think so much. The day had been stressful enough, she should do her best to enjoy the evening.

"But, ya know…", Kidd said with a full mouth, barely managing to chew. "ya alright just eatin' salad?" The look she gave Harle's plate was sceptical. She knew she didn't mind going without meat once in a while, but _just _vegetables…it didn't seem enough in various ways.

"Mais oui.", Harle answered without hesitation. "It'z healt'y, and keepz you jeune." With her fork she picked up a leaf which was almost drenched with vinegar, but she carefully placed it in her mouth without any of it spilling. At the sight of Harle's eating manners, Kidd remembered to close her mouth. She wiped her hand over it in case she had some crumbs on her face, but the amused smile Harle was giving her left her restless. She didn't put it past Harle to not tell her. She had to make sure.

"Excuse me for a moment.", she said with an obviously faked polite smile, for Harle still thought Kidd unable to genuinely call forth the muscles necessary for that. Harle loved the fact that she could always see whether Kidd's smiles were real or not, even though the one she was presenting her with right now was especially obvious and intended.

When Harle realized Kidd was still in front of her, awaiting some kind of response, Harle nodded and saw her walking to the restrooms. With a short glance at Kidd's already dreadfully empty plate, Harle resumed her meal without waiting for Kidd. She wondered if Kidd would detect the windows right away.

Kidd didn't. Instead, she was surprised to see the restroom quite crowded. A whole row of women were standing in front of the mirror, leaving little place, and little desire for Kidd to get between them simply to look if there was something on her face. Instead, after having had someone bump into her for the third time, she turned to leave again. She could put up with being smiled at the whole evening.

Just as she was about to open the door to step outside she felt another person pushing against her, and turned around, slightly annoyed. Her hand washed another time over her mouth unconsciously, and she was about to say something when she realized there was a small girl standing in front of her, maybe seven years old. Her hair was curly and Kidd guessed it to be a bright blonde under a layer of what seemed to be dirt or soot. Or both. Her clothes underlined that suspicion, but as she looked into the shy and frightened face of the young girl, Kidd forgot about her annoyance completely.

"S-sorry!", she sputtered with wide eyes, and Kidd wondered just how scary she looked.

"No problem.", she answered quickly and patted the girl on her left shoulder. The girl bowed for another excuse and then left her hurriedly. In the back of her mind, Kidd wondered what a girl like her wanted in a restaurant like this, and the ugly part of her told her that it might be just for the free water.

But then again, she really shouldn't judge other people by their clothes. It wasn't as if she looked as though she had 34000G in her pockets. A smile crept on her lips. It was good to have the queen for an aunt.

She exited the restroom and went back to Harle, who was by now finished with her salad and calmly sipping a cocktail she had ordered. There was also one on Kidd's side, even though Kidd rarely drank alcohol. She didn't like how it affected her senses, and she couldn't bring herself to like it as much as to actually drink it just for the pleasure of it, like Harle seemed to do. Still, as she sat down, her hand wandered over to the glass.

"Is it any good?", she asked with a smirk, knowing full well that Harle never picked anything that wasn't good. And the drink before her certainly looked expensive enough not to be bad.

"Parfait.", Harle answered and brought the brim of the glass to her lips in unison with Kidd. The slight twitch of the corners of Kidd's mouth gave her away, and Harle had to try hard not to laugh. She managed to stay calm and finished her drink slowly while Kidd gave her a 'now or never' look and drained it at once.

"Do I want ta know how expensive that one was?", Kidd asked jokingly. Not that she really cared about it.

"Je ne sais pas.", Harle answered smilingly. "Moi juzt knowz zat you are going to pay."

Kidd chuckled and reached into her pockets. "Thought so. Ya know, maybe ya should take the money from now on, somehow I don't feel well carryin' so much money with me all the time."

Harle smiled at Kidd's uneasiness and shrugged. "Fine wit' moi." She extended her hand to her, showing no signs whatsoever of having a problem with exchanging 34000G with someone with countless people nearby. "Iz it because you still have a few crumbz next to your mout'?", she asked teasingly and Kidd's hand immediately shot up to wipe away whatever remnants of food still resided on her face. She found nothing, however. Not on her face, and not in her pockets. Both realizations hit her almost simultaneously, so she didn't even have the time to laugh. Or to cry.

"H-hey, Harle…", Kidd stuttered, her face suddenly pale, pearls of sweat already forming on her forehead without her noticing. "I…completely forgot I gave it ta ya already."

Sometimes, when you say something and really believe in it, it becomes true. Or so they said. Kidd didn't know, she had never tried. She was trying really hard now. But Harle's uncanny ability to destroy the hopes of the foolish wasn't perturbed in the least. She watched Kidd with a raised eyebrow, still utterly unsuspecting.

"Certainement non.", she said, but checked her pockets anyway. As expected she only found a few coins, probably less than 100G. She was a little confused at Kidd's behaviour, but as she withdrew her hand from where it had reached across the table, Kidd could see the dreadful flicker of comprehension in her eyes. She was done for.

"Ya know…well, how ta explain…", Kidd started, but soon stumbled over her words. How to explain indeed. "Ya see…it's gone."

"How so?", Harle asked, her voice eerily calm despite what was happening.

"I dunno!", Kidd answered louder than intended, and upon receiving questioning looks from the other customers, reduced her voice to a whisper. "The bloody money's just gone!" Kidd winced at the last word. How could she, a professional thief, lose money without even noticing?

Harle's face was blank as her eyes wandered around while thinking. Gone. It couldn't be. It was ridiculous.

Her look fell upon the cocktail glass in front of her. She hadn't studied the menu as carefully as to know the exact price of those, but she didn't think she was far off in guessing that 100G and one evening of dishwashing wouldn't be enough to make up for it.

Kidd still stared at Harle, fully expecting her to be more than a little mad at her. When Harle suddenly gripped her hand, Kidd lost all hope.

"Rapide.", Harle ordered, tugging at Kidd's hand. She stood up from the table and walked over to the restrooms with Kidd closely following her. Not that she had much choice in the matter.

They entered the restroom and Kidd was surprised to see it almost empty. At least in comparison to how crowded it had been just a few minutes ago. There were only four women to be seen in front of the mirrors, but their presence became utterly uninteresting as Harle pulled out her cards.

"Whaddaya doin' with those?", Kidd gasped, but Harle didn't answer her, instead walking over to the row of women in front of the mirrors. She casually leaned against the wall next to them, tapping the cards in her right hand on the washbasin underneath the mirror. They made a disgusting sound on the smooth surface.

"Would you excuse uz for a few momentz, Mesdemoiselles?", she asked politely, a farce completely shattered by the threatening cards she now held before the first woman's throat.

A whimper of her and gasps from the others were all she received as an answer, but to Harle's relief they were intelligent enough to find the exit in a relatively short amount of time.

When Harle turned around to Kidd, the taller girl still faced her with a sceptical look.

"Was that really necessary?", she asked, but smiled, for a moment forgetting about their situation.

"Oui.", Harle simply answered and went over to the windows to open them. They weren't exactly big, but Harle had fit through it before. Kidd had an equal build and was just a little taller than her, so she should be fine as well. "Hurry.", Harle said urgently, pointing at the window.

Kidd nodded and crawled through the frame, fining herself in a back alley afterward. Turning around she extended her hand towards Harle to help her get out as well. They closed the window as tightly as they could from outside, then distanced themselves from the entire restaurant in a quick yet unsuspicious manner.

"So…what now?", Kidd asked, not sure if just escaping from the restaurant was the right thing to do. But she also knew that she was getting way too soft. "How did you even know we could go through a window in the restroom? Have ya been here before?"

The question was innocent enough but Harle felt as if being accused. "It'z…un secret." She still didn't like what had happened here a few years ago, but back then, she had thought it was fun. Maybe she had just felt challenging, back then. And too frustrated to admit it. She hadn't exactly been the happiest person in the world, back then. As opposed to now. A smug smile crept onto her lips but she quickly diminished it, trying to concentrate onto the matter at hand. Even though she couldn't help but not to care at all.

"We're going to get ze money back.", she chose to reply, already looking around in search of the best direction to take from here. "It'z obvious someone stole it from you while you were in ze restroom."

Kidd nodded, understanding the conclusion Harle had come to. Still, who could have stolen money from her pocket without her noticing? It seemed impossible. But then, as if mocking her stupidity, the picture of the small girl came to mind, and Kidd slapped her forehead in anger.

Kidd usually didn't think of herself as particularly stupid or slow. She knew she wasn't dumb, but she certainly felt that way right now. She had been fooled by a kid.

Without another thought, Kidd dashed out onto the main street, leaving Harle to run after her. Only a few minutes had passed. They still had a chance.

Kidd fought her way through the crowds on the streets, almost running several people over in the process. Harle managed to slip through the masses with slightly more elegance, but still couldn't avoid occasionally bumping into a passer-by. She had no idea where Kidd was heading.

She also had no idea that Kidd didn't know, either. Kidd tried her best to scan the masses around her for any small kids. There couldn't be that many, ordinary children would be in their beds already. Only thieves were still awake.

But still, it was almost impossible to spot her with so many people around. And yet, Kidd was almost sure that the girl was still somewhere further along the main road.

She imagined herself as a small girl. Stealing had been a game for her, back then, but she had executed it every time as professionally as though her life had depended on it. She had always used packed streets like this when the possibility had been given, knowing full well that being around crowds of unsuspecting adults could protect her in case she got caught, but also shield her small form from searching eyes. Adults may choose the first dark alley they encountered, but children thought differently. Back then, even Kidd had been afraid of the dark, thus avoiding empty alleys until she was at a safe distance from everything. Right now, Kidd hoped she hadn't been an odd kid in that regard.

She counted three junctions, then crossed the street while still running and searched the alley between two rather large multistorey buildings. It was as good a place to search as any. Before vanishing in the dim light of the alley, she extended her arm to point to her left, for Harle to see. Harle immediately understood and continued along the road instead of following Kidd.

She had little hope to find whoever stole the money. She had no idea how the person looked like, aside from being female. Kidd hadn't exactly told her anything, probably thinking Harle would get mad if she knew how easy it must have been to steal the money. Harle smirked at the thought. The thief should be proud of herself.

Harle entered the next alley, cautiously stepping into the darkness. She took out a few cards, remembering the recent events. Just in case another rude and persistent beggar came along. She wasn't about to waste any time, again.

There was little more to be found than garbage, piled next to an already overflowing dumpster. She didn't like this city.

Harle continued despite her knowing better. As she reached the dead-end, where the only way of continual was an iron ladder, she stopped, listening for any sounds. The street noise aside, there was nothing to be heard.

She made her way back onto the main street, intending to meet up with Kidd, who had most probably been as unsuccessful as herself. They should give up. Both she and Kidd knew how easy it was to steal and get away without being caught. Their shared knowledge of thievery didn't help them any to actually locate a thief or try to predict his actions. There were just too many possibilities.

Harle looked around in search for the familiar ruffled mop of reddish blonde hair. It was usually easy to find among the more common colours like brown or black. And if that didn't help, Harle could always look out for someone with a fiery red outfit, which she was sure didn't apply to many people around here.

However, she found none of these characteristics and couldn't suppress a small tinge of worry.

She broke into a run, not sure which one of her flood of irrational thoughts was responsible for that. She dashed along the street until she reached the alley she had seen Kidd vanishing in.

She stopped unwillingly as she heard a high-pitched cry, and her heartbeat accelerated instantly before her brain realized that it wasn't Kidd's voice.

Still, her heartbeat didn't slow down as she forced her feet to move forward.

"Kidd?", she called out, but in the same instant saw the faint outline of her body. She was pressing something against a wall, and as she got closer, she saw it was a child. A girl. She was crying.

"Let me go!", the girl cried, feebly kicking her feet, but only succeeding to hit the air.

"Who do ya think I am? No way I'm gonna let ya go.", Kidd snorted, lifting the girl even higher. She was light as a feather and Kidd had hardly problems of lifting her single-handedly. The cloth at her collar was of a different opinion however, it started to tear.

"Kidd!", Harle shouted, quickly walking over to them. She took the girl into her arms and slapped Kidd's arm away with more force than intended. Kidd withdrew it as if stung, and watched Harle with wide eyes as she set the small girl onto the ground, gently holding her shoulders as she knelt before her.

"Are you alright, ma petite?", Harle asked with a strangely gentle voice that Kidd found both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time.

"I-I didn't…I didn't want to steal so much!", the girl sobbed, to Kidd's surprise not trying to free herself from Harle's grasp and run away. The girl looked to the ground, rubbing her eyes with her palms. "I didn't know it was so much! I just…", she trailed off, clutching her face with her hands. Harle cradled the girl in her arms, and pulled her closer to herself. The girl didn't resist, instead weeping even more onto Harle's shoulder. Kidd simply stared at them, wondering what had happened while a wave of guilt washed over her. The girl was crying because of her. But was it so wrong, to want stolen money back?

"Hush now, no need to cry.", Harle said and stroked the girl's back. "Let moi see your face."

The girl reluctantly drew away, but didn't dare to look up. She didn't want anyone to see her, she didn't want to see anyone. She shouldn't have stolen. She had never done it had she known how much money it actually was. She had really wanted to give it back, but she had been afraid. She still was.

She tensed as she felt Harle's hands before her face, moving her long strands of dirty blonde hair out of the way to see her face. Her hands were warm and softer than she had ever known a hand to be. She felt like an angel, and when her eyes moved upwards she expected to see soft blue eyes. However, as she looked into Harle's face she gave a start. Harle was staring at her, her hands frozen in midair and her wide crimson eyes incredulous.

At the sight of Harle's eerie eyes the girl wanted to run. But what she saw in them made her halt. She saw recognition.

"T…Trisha?", Harle stuttered, unable to tear her eyes from the girl opposite her. It had to be her. Those green eyes and this innocent face…there was no doubt. She still looked the same. So much time had passed, but she was right here, in front of her. Harle couldn't stop the tears that suddenly leaked from her eyes, leaving a hot trail on her cheeks.

The girl nodded hesitantly, thinking hard. She knew those eyes, she knew she had been afraid of them before. She knew this person wasn't bad. But as hard as she tried, her mind refused to come up with a name for this woman. She looked helpless.

Harle watched her, smiling sadly. Of course she wouldn't remember her. She had only been four years, back then. Their meeting had been brief, so there really was no way she would recognize her. But it still hurt. But what had she expected? She hadn't done much, back then. She probably hadn't helped her at all. Wasn't it like the beggar from before had said? People give them money to get rid of them. Because they're annoying, not because one really wanted to help them. Had Harle really been like that? She knew she had been selfish, knew she had pitied herself. She should have never let that girl alone.

"You're…Harle, right?", Trisha then asked, wincing inwardly. She hoped she had gotten the name right. But when Harle looked at her, there were even more tears streaming from her eyes. Trisha opened her mouth to apologize, but shut it again as Harle once again embraced her, her arms circling around her back.

"Moi iz…sorry.", Harle said, trying to keep her voice from shaking. She was so thin. She had to be hungry. Harle should have never let her alone.

"No, I'm sorry!", Trisha said quickly, shaking her head. She dared to look past Harle at Kidd for a second, seeing her face mixed with curiosity and amazement. All of a sudden, she didn't seem dangerous anymore. "I really didn't want to steal so much money…" She trailed off again, trying to find more words to prove her point. She really was sorry, but she wasn't used to apologizing. In fact, she wasn't used to talking at all. She couldn't remember to have talked to anyone in the last few months. It seemed like a miracle to her that she hadn't already forgotten how to do it altogether.

Trisha's eyes darted to Kidd when she heard her snort. "Quit cryin' already. Just what kinda thief are ya?"

Trisha winced at Kidd's words, and looked at Harle for help, who in turn eyed Kidd dangerously. Her eyes softened however as she saw the smile on Kidd's face. She had already forgiven Trisha for stealing the money. This was just her way of saying it.

"She doezn't mean it like zat. She likez you.", Harle whispered into Trisha's ear, who didn't look quite convinced.

"You sure?", she whispered back, and both of them turned to inspect Kidd, who eyed them warily.

"Oui, quite sure.", Harle said with a smile and gave Trisha a quick kiss on the cheek. It tasted salty, but the tears had stopped by now. As had Harle's. Trisha blushed, utterly unaccustomed to any kind of affection. She wondered how much time had passed since the last time someone had touched her in such an affectionate manner. She looked at Harle in wonder.

"So, I guess I'm the bad guy now.", Kidd interrupted their moment of intimacy, shrugging.

"Vraiment.", Harle said, standing up from where she had knelt in front of Trisha. "Until you apologize, zat iz.", she said and pointed on Trisha.

"Just a minute, there.", Kidd said, both hands on her hips. "Why do I have ta apologize when I just tried ta get our bloody money back? Ya should praise me!"

Harle simply smiled and tugged at Trisha's arm to have her stand in front of her, then wrapped her arms protectively around the girl. "You scared mon amie. For zat, moi t'inkz une apology iz in order." Harle smiled while saying that, but Kidd could see she was dead serious. No use arguing now.

"Alright, alright.", Kidd gave in, scratching the back of her head as she walked towards the strange duo. Kidd wondered how these two came to know each other, but she guessed they would tell her soon enough.

She stopped right in front of Trisha, her face a mixture of scepticism but also genuine approval. That girl certainly wasn't bad, in many regards. Harle seemed to like her quite a bit, which meant Kidd would end up liking her as well.

Kidd extended her arm to Trisha, but was stopped when Harle cleared her throat audibly.

"On your kneez.", she said quietly, looking away to avoid the scandalized look she was sure Kidd was giving her. But to her surprise, Kidd complied without another word.

"Very well.", Kidd sighed and went down to one knee in front of the now wide-eyed girl. "I, Kidd, hereby apologize for the ills I have caused you. Please…accept my deepest apologies.", she said with a serious face, but wavered near the end. She could hardly suppress her laughter.

"Very knight-like.", Harle approved.

Trisha for her part just stared at Kidd, who looked back at her, obviously awaiting an answer. Trisha had no idea what was going on with those people around her. She wasn't sure she wanted to know.

For as long as she lived, she had learned not to trust people. She had learned through many hard lessons on the streets. To not trust anyone, to not rely on anyone. To not love anyone.

But she couldn't help but feel safe now, among those two people who were little more than complete strangers to her. One fiery and strong, the other calm and mysterious. Trisha knew her heart was racing, though she didn't know why. She didn't know what was happening to her, at all.

"What do you say? Do you forgive her?" It was her voice again, its warm tone sneaking itself into her ears, accompanied by the soft pressure of her arms around her. Had Harle been that kind before? Trisha didn't remember. She had changed, but to which extends, Trisha couldn't say.

"Mm-Mm.", Trisha answered with a nod, causing a look of relief on Kidd's face as she stood up again.

"Thanks, gal.", Kidd said and ruffled Trisha's hair playfully, for the first time favouring her with a genuinely gentle smile. She looked at Harle, who stood behind Trisha with an expression so serene, and so content that Kidd wondered what she was thinking about right now. She saw Harle absent-mindedly playing with a loose strand of Trisha's hair, twirling it around her finger, completely lost in thought.

Maybe it was so surprising because Kidd had never seen her with any children. And she didn't use to imagine her around them. But maybe it was just because Kidd had never thought about Harle as particularly fond of children.

When Harle finally noticed she had been lost in thought, her eyes were unfocused for a few short moments before she gathered where she was, and identified the girl she was holding. She noticed her grip was rather tight, so despite having received no protest whatsoever from Trisha, she let go of her, her eyes searching for Kidd. As she found them they were gleaming with an amazement Harle didn't realize was aimed at her.

"Well, shall we get goin'? I'm freezin'!", Kidd said cheerfully, her eyes still locked onto Harle's now slightly confused ones.

Kidd took Harle's hand in hers. It felt cold, as if the warmth of them had left her grasp along with Trisha. They walked towards the main road again, Harle walking more slowly than Kidd, as if trying to protest but being unable to go through with it. The lights of the street touched their faces but left Harle's face unlit. It only served to highlight the lone tear that trailed over her cheek.

That was when Kidd turned around to look at the small girl, who still stood almost invisibly in the darkness of the alley.

"Hey, ya comin' or what? We ain't got all night!", she called, looking at Trisha who lifted her head in surprise. She looked around, seeing that Harle was directly beside Kidd, with a strange look on her face. Trisha wasn't sure whom the call had been aimed at until Kidd shouted again.

"Hey Trish, would ya mind gettin' yer butt inta gear? I'm cold!" Kidd was laughing as she called, unable to suppress it any longer. She had an idea that this girl would be a hell of a lot of fun to tease.

As would be Harle, apparently, who still looked at her incredulously which caused Kidd to look at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Don't tell me ya wanted ta leave her here?", she asked, knowing full well this wasn't the case. Instead of a direct answer Harle flung her arms around Kidd's neck, showering her face with kisses. Kidd accepted them while laughing, smirking at Trisha who had come to a halt a few metres away from them, unsure of what to do.

When Harle finally noticed her she let go of Kidd, extending her hand to the small girl, motioning for her to come closer.

Kidd watched her contently. She hadn't been able to name it before, but she knew it now. Harle looked like a mother. When Trisha finally took Harle's hand here eyes were ablaze, if from the streetlights or something else Kidd couldn't say. She had a fairly good idea, however. She saw Harle lean down to Trisha, whispering something into her ear before receiving an eager nod and a tight hug as a reply.

Shortly afterward the three of them crossed the broad street, no one paying any more attention to them than before. Which was fine by them, for they didn't pay any attention to anyone beside themselves, either.

As the way continued Trisha sneaked her other hand into Kidd's. It felt warmer than she had thought it would.

"Oi Trish, what's the first thing ya wanna do tomorrow?", Kidd asked, and as a result two pairs of eyes were fixed onto Trisha.

She didn't need to think to come up with the answer.

"Cut my hair."

She already had a person in mind whom she would ask for this favour.

THE END

A/N#2: Phew, that was LONG. But I felt the Epilogue just had to be long like that. Well, I hoped you liked it, I certainly liked writing it. I wonder how many people expected to see Trisha at the end...isn't it the perfect intro for another sequel, though? XD

...what? It isn't? Oh well. If anyone wants to see one, just say so, I certainly wouldn't mind writing one. I mean, who wouldn't want to see more of Harle and her happy family? Ok I'll stop now. Thanks to everyone who read this far!


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